King of the Hill
by Zaidee
Summary: The Wizardry world has slowly but surely been crumbling for a very long time. Now with the great battle for the control of it all. Harry didn't grow up as the people thought he did but neither did he grow as Dumbledore wanted him to. Harry learns from a very young age that one must walk on their own two feet. How will this affect the future? Smart/powerful/dark Harry
1. Prologue

Okay so this story is inspired by and largely based to some degree off of a fanfiction called 'OUT OF THE NIGHT' by Raining Ink. If you don't know of it or the writer that is because Raining Ink left fanfiction to work on her own creations and so that she didn't get distracted or something like that, she took down her fanfiction 'Out of the Night'. Not really sure if she had others, don't think so.

Even though she has taken them down, you can find 'Out of the Night' on several other sites if you really want to read it and I honest recommend that you do as it was and is an amazingly written story.

forums . darklordpotter showthread . php?t=14151

(**Edit:** I have recently found out that someone has taken up the story on fanfiction.)

That said I really do hope you like this story, as while I can put spelling mistakes or some poor gramma in it. I check each chapter something like 5-10 times, depending on whenever I am working on my stories. So I hope I have found most of the mistakes as I am always trying to find them but often miss some.

This story may or may not have slash in it but if it does, I don't think that it will be Harry at the moment. I know that Harry will end up with someone but as for whom, I really couldn't say because I don't know. Aside from that it will not be Ginny. I also haven't quite decided whether Harry will be more dark or grey.

The only other thing I'll say right now is that while my prologues always seem to be shorter then I'd like them to be, I always write longer chapters after that. So if you are someone who dislikes short chapters then don't worry as it only ever seems to the first chapter that comes out so short.

**Summary: **The Wizardry world has slowly but surely been crumbling for a very long time. Now there is a great battle taking place for the control of it all, will it be for the better or worse? Harry did not grow up as the people thought he did but neither did he grow as Dumbledore wanted him to. Harry learns from a very young age that one must learn walk on their own two feet. How will this affect the future of the magical world? Smart/powerful/¿dark-grey? Harry. Bad Dumbledore and 'most' of the Weasley family.

**Cover Pic:** www . eveandersson usa/ut/capitol-reef

* * *

**Prologue**

On July 31 1982, at Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey; the day was like any other. It was a pleasantly warm summer that brought with it a cool refreshing breeze. Many children were out playing while parents watched, or chatted with other parents. Yes a day like any other, in their perfect little suburban life.

However, not all was as it seemed for in the house of number 4 Privet Drive, there was a blemish, a dark spot in the small family of threes' flawlessly normal life. Not that anyone else on the street was aware, but to the family known as the Dursleys, it was like a piece of chewing gum stuck in ones otherwise faultlessly neat and tidy hair and the only way to get rid of it was to cut it out and thus ruin ones hair. What was this blemish in their life you might ask; it was their two year old nephew Harry James Potter, or better known within the Dursleys as 'the Freak'.

For Petunia and Vernon who considered themselves to be the King and Queen of Little Whinging, normality was held in great value. Why or how did they come to this conclusion you may ask? Well they considered themselves to be just that, perfection.

Petunia was a tall, thin woman with a little too much neck; though she would tell you that it simply made her look more extravagant, with light blue eyes and blond hair, the perfect example of an English woman she would say. She was the classic example of a stay at home wife who kept her home and gardens impeccably neat and always put a meal on the table. Her favourite activity was to snoop on other neighbours' in the area and thus she always knew all the latest dirt or as she like to call it gossip.

Vernon on the other hand was a rather large man; some might even go so far as to call him a beached whale, with small beady blue eyes and short black hair with a bushy moustache that he thought made him rather manly if he did say so. He worked as an Assistant Director for Grunnings Dills and was sure he would be promoted soon to Director. He always had the latest car and made sure that their family always had the newest fashion, as well as entertainment.

Finally there was their little Prince that they were certain would one day rule the business world. Dudley was their two year old son and considered to be the spitting image of his father Vernon. He was round like a beach ball, with watery blue eyes and a blond tuff of hair on top.

The one thing that ruined everything for the Dursleys was their freak of a nephew Harry Potter. When they first found him on their door step nine months ago he was a child of average height for his age, with a glow about him when he smiled but they knew better. They knew he was a spawn of the devil himself and to add insult to the injury that they were being forced to take him in without any extra assistant, he proved time and time again that he was far more developed then their little Dudley. At fifteen months he walked and fed himself with very little assist while Dudley still did not show signs of either as time went by the gap between the two children just seemed to grow. Then there was the freaks magic, no matter how hard they tried to stop it and even starved him in hoped that it would stop, he still kept using it. But today was the last straw, when they gave their Dudley the freaks stuffed bear to play with; 'Freaks don't deserve such things as toys', he simple willed it back to himself and made their Dudley cry.

That was how Harry James Potter came to be found on the door step of Wool's Orphanage at ten o'clock at night with a note, his baby blanket and his teddy bear.


	2. Chapter One

I had already written this an age ago, so if I had anything to say about it I cannot remember now. I do hope I found most of the mistakes though.

* * *

**Chapter One**

Mrs. Ranch at 42 years of age was a stout woman of average height with piercing blue eyes and short, curly, dirty brown hair that was showing signs of grey. She had just managed, thirty minutes previously, to put all the older children to sleep with lights out by nine-thirty, as was the rule at Wool's Orphanage for the teens there and was now reclining comfortably in an arm-chair by the fire in her office with a nice glass of whisky to relax from the hellish day she had been force to endure. The same repetitive day that she had been forced to endure all her all her life, or so it would seem. The irony of this event was that she was currently re-enacting one of several routines that her mother Mrs. Cole would follow regularly in that very room over twenty-years ago.

Mrs. Ranch, like her mother before her was one of those woman that you tell just by looking at her that she loathed children of any sort and would much rather spend her time appreciating the finer pleasures in life alone. Unfortunately she was forced, in her own words, to stay at the orphanage as it was all she had ever known; having been born there on the 20 of April 1940, and she didn't have enough money to move elsewhere, nor the experience to find a different job with good income and well it help that her family had owned the orphanage for three generations, form her grandfather Mr. Wool, to her mother Mrs. Cole and then herself Alice Ranch nee Cole. An added bonus was that she could easily 'borrow' money from the orphanage to spend at her leisure and no one would be the wiser as she owned the building and in truth; she never really had to do much around the place as she made the rest of the stuff and children do any of the jobs, so really life was rather easy for her. She just wished she didn't need to be near children for it and that she had more money, but you win some, you lose some.

So with all the other residents asleep, Mrs. Ranch found herself just becoming pleasantly warm from the whisky in her system on the summer night of July 31 1982, when her peace was viciously broken by a harsh banging on the orphanage's front doors, followed by the clanging as the gate swung shut and the screeching of a car speeding off into the night. Mrs. Ranch was annoyed.

Mrs. Ranch grunted in discontent as she pulled herself out of her well-worn red velvet arm-chair and waddled her way through the hall to the front doors where she already knew that she would find another dribbling brat to add to the rest. All the while she prayed none of the other brats would be up because of the sounds, though they should be use to it by now but if one did get up, she would make sure that they would know not to in the future.

When she finally reached the front doors and opened the left door, she did find the brat and couldn't help but groan in annoyance. She found a toddler sleeping in a blanket with a brown stuffed bear and a letter. Toddlers were amongst the worst of the trouble-makers in her opinion but luckily they hadn't had any children younger than four in a while. With a grunt she bent down and picked the brat up before carrying him inside and locking the doors behind her.

Her only saving grace was that when she turned back around the young assistant Amelia was standing there in her socks with a fluffy blue robe wrapped around her for some warmth. Amelia was a kind young girl with soft wavy brown locks, almond shaped hazel eyes and pale skin; she was the kind of girl that you would pass on the street and barely even notice, which may be why Mrs. Ranch even tolerated her presence.

"Another one Mrs. Ranch?" Amelia asked softly as she fiddled with her robe and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Unfortunately," Mrs. Ranch grunted as she shoved the child into the girl's arms with a disgusted look on her face, "Since you are up, you can find a room for him and then proceed to see what sort of file you can make for him from that letter with him, if at all." She grunted before waddling off to find more comfort in the form of whisky.

Amelia sighed as she looked down at the adorable child in her arms. She could already see that he would be a heart breaker when he was old enough with his messy dark brown-almost black locks, heart-shaped face and smooth pale skin. She just wondered what his eyes would look like when he finally woke up. She made her way up the first flight of stairs to the first floor where the children's sleeping arrangements began and quietly made her way down the hall to room 5, which she knew was currently empty of any children.

The room was empty of all but the essentials, a steel cot and baby changing bench, a wooden wardrobe and a small empty toy box. You could easily tell that the furniture was aged and well worn, just as the walls, doors and windows of the orphanage needed a fresh coat of paint but not before you scraped off the current layer that was blistered and peeling. Truly, it was no place for a child but they simply didn't have the funds. The four story orphanage with an attic and a bunker in the basement was barely scrapping by to feed, clothes and care for all the children's basic essentials and schooling, and that was not counting that they only used two of the three floors above the ground floor.

She gently unwrapped the child and had to hold back a sneer at the smell coming from him as she placed him on the changing table and changed him into a fresh nappy and a clean faded grey one piece. It was clear that while the previous carers were kind enough to not let him get too many sores that they had not properly fed him. With a sad sigh she placed him down into the cot with his teddy bear and blanket before she moved onto the letter that was left with him.

"Let's see who you are little one," She whispered softly as she unfolded the letter and read;

'Dear Reader,

The child that you have found with this letter is named Harry James Potter. He was born on the 31st of July 1980 on the hour of midnight to one Lilly Rose Potter nee Evans and James Charlus Potter. Lilly was born 30 January 1960 and James was born 27 March 1960, they married at 18 and died on the 31 October 1981 whilst driving home one night while James was drunk. Harry was the only survivor and was left with the scar on his forehead. We then found Harry left on our doorstep the next morning by some of their acquaintances. We do not want, nor care for the abomination which is why we have left him for you to find. Do not look for us.'

Amelia looked at the sleeping toddler with a sad smile on her face as Harry moved in his sleep and cuddled his teddy in one arm.

"Happy birthday little Harry," She whispered as she closed the door behind her and set out to the office to make his file.

* * *

It didn't take long for the carers at the orphanage to comprehend that there was something different about little Harry. In the beginning their thoughts about the odd occurrences were divided to a point; some said that he was a bad omen, whilst the other workers thought he was absurdly special but that didn't last long. Amongst them, only one knew the truth. Mrs. Ranch knew instantly, when she heard the stories being passed around by the stuff about bottles flying through the air and toys that danced around the room, that little Harry was different from all of them. He was like 'Him', a freak, a spawn of the devil and she made damned sure that all the other carers knew her opinion. From there it didn't take long for the seeds to be planted and spread and it took even less time for the children to catch on that there was something different and unwanted about Harry.

Within a the next year there were two things that became very clear to all the occupants within the walls of Wools Orphanage, one was that Harry was extremely bright for a child of 3; almost too smart some would say, the other was that Harry was a freak and they all made sure he knew how they felt about him daily. At 3 years old, instead of playing with old wooden blocks or toy cars in the play room like most children his age would, he would make his way over to the books corner and while there weren't many, he had steadily made his way through the children's books and was already seen reading books written for 5 or 6 year olds instead of 3. Mind you, it didn't help that in the times when Harry did try to play with some of the toys, aside from his bear, that the younger children would kick up a fuss and make the older children chase him away because they didn't want the Freak to contaminate the toys. Not that they knew what that word was but what they did know was that the carers didn't like him and that meant that he had to be bad.

Mrs. Ranch was practically harsh to Harry, she always gave him the worst of the rags that they called clothes and any other second hand items they gave to the children and anytime something weird happened she would lock him in his room and withhold at least one meal that day. There was one time in which she withheld food for the whole day but then that night, he somehow got out and was found feeding himself in the kitchen. She got so mad that she gave him a good lashing with a thin leather cane or tried to; her cane vanished after five lashes to his back and the marks on his back also vanished, only to appear on her back. After that her dislike of him only seemed to grow, but she never tried to mark him again, instead she would use a flat wooden plank to his bottom and other forms of punishments, because she still had the five thin scars on her back. That was also the first time that Mrs. Ranch dragged him to the church they went to every Sunday morning and had the priest perform an exorcism.

At four-years-old it was decided that they would send Harry off to start year 1 (grade 1) at school a year early. Then he could be someone else's problem five out of seven days a week. They might have sent him to started him in nursery (Kindergarten), followed by reception (prep) at school but the orphanage could never afford it, so they normally only ever started the children's educations at five to six years of age depending on when the child was born. It helped that the teachers there loved him and called him a prodigy. They even considered moving him up a year but they thought better of it and decided to give him one year to adjust before they decided anything. Harry didn't have a problem with starting school as he loved to learn new things and was beginning to lose interested of the more simple books at the orphanage. For some unknown reason the orphanage didn't seem to have much in terms of a library; in fact all its books above those of children's story books for six years old and younger always seemed to vanish, so they just stop trying to get books for the older children all together. That was one thing that really annoyed Harry about the orphanage, well that and the people in it.

In Harry's eyes Ericson Banner was by far the worst though. He was two years older then Harry, with messy dirty brown locks that always looked like he just got out of bed and fell down around his chubby round face and muddy brown eyes, looking at him made Harry feel thankful for his looks. He was always finding a reason to hurt Harry, take his things; including his food sometimes, and getting him into trouble.

At first he didn't understand why it was that people treated him the way they did at the orphanage. He was always as polite and proper as possible because he had read a story in one of the books about a young boy who was treated better once he learned to be nice first and had hoped that it would help him but now it was just a habit to cover up his true feelings and thoughts. He found that it also helped him when he was outside of the orphanage as well, for some reason it was only the occupants at the orphanage and the priest that didn't seem to like him without a reason or so he thought in the beginning.

It didn't take him long to realise that he was different from the others, he just didn't know how exactly. He knew that he had these powers that could do things to the environment around him and the people and creatures alike. Like this one time when Ericson managed to take his teddy bear away from him when he was four and next thing he knew Ericson was on his back with a broken arm and his bear that Ericson has chucked on the ground in front of him with stuffing falling out was mended good-as-new. Mrs. Ranch tried to blame him for Ericson's arm but there was no proof; she still withheld the rest of his food for that day though. He had tried to control it but had so far had little to no luck; he could make little things like a pebble fly to this hand though. He had used his free time at school to read whatever he could in the school library and had read about something called psychic powers which he understood the basics of had something to do with your mind but from that he understood one thing, it was all about will and how you perceived your own limitations. Even though it was still hard and tiring at times, he never stopped trying.

Now at five years old, Harry had started third year in the junior school, some of the school teachers had spent the previous year obscuring Harry and it was decided that he might do better in a higher year level. Even so, Harry often found the work easy for himself and the children his age too annoying. That isn't to say that he didn't like to play, he loved to play and it was even better that the children and teachers at school all loved and adored him and often called the other orphanage children bullies and the teachers were always watching out for them around him. He just found the things they fort over to be bothersome and often walked away when they got into silly fights about who was 'it', he would then wait until they apologized for being silly before he would play with them again.

Running was one of his favorite activates and not just because it helped him get away from children at the orphanage but because the speed and the feeling of the wind in his hair made him feel that little bit more free and took away the feeling of being watched and judged. He also liked sports such as football (soccer) as he had read that it helped you to be healthy, strong and fit. It was also pleasant that the sports teacher Mr Gruel decided that he was so good that he put him on the schools Young Track Team and with the help of his magic he managed to get Mr Gruel to get him on the local football team, all expenses paid by Mr Gruel of cause. He knew it would likely be considered wrong but what did he care, he was smarter than most of them and he had the power to back himself up and unlike other children he didn't have a parent to do things for him so he made them happen for himself.

Unfortunately none of that really helped him much now, as he ran though through the halls skidding as he made a sharp right and headed for the stairs, he didn't really know where he was headed as he ran but away from Ericson and his little gang. How did this happen you may ask, well simple really.

* * *

Harry was minding his own business, sitting in the shade of an old tree by the edge of the yard reading a book for English class when he heard a small, feminine voice with a hissing-like quality to it.

"**Stupid humans taking away my warm sun light,"** The voice mumbled as he heard the rustle of shrubs behind him. He was up in a millisecond as he stared at the tail of the small green garden snake slithering away. He couldn't believe what his mind was telling him but he quickly tested it to make sure.

"**Wait! I'm sorry did you just talk?"** Harry asked as he stared down at the small, slender Grass Snake in front of him that reached approximately thirty centimetres in length. It had a dark greyish-green body with black vertical stripes marking its body and a yellow ring around it head with dark jade green eyes, while its underside was patterned with altering black and white scales. It had stopped in tracks as soon as he spoke and was now facing him, reared up to see him better.

"**You are a Speaker?!"** The snake asked in shock and now it was Harry's turn to stare for a bit.

"**I'm sorry, what? What do you mean by speaker? Do you mean I'm speaking the snake language, because I am perfectly sure that it is you that is speaking English,"** Harry replied still in shock.

The snake hissed softly in what could only be laughter, **"Silly Speaker, it is you who is speaking Parseltongue and what an honour it is to meet a Parselmouth. To meet a descendent of the first speaker and here of all places. It had been thought that all the speakers were gone after the Dark One,"** The small snake kept babbling on, **"What is your name little Speaker?"** It finally asked.

"**My name is Harry, so this is another strange ability I have; this Parseltongue, that makes me different from the others here?"** He asked the last bit more to himself, **"What is your name little snake?"** Harry asked as he now squatted down by the bush to talk to the small snake at a more level ground.

"**Harry... How boring..."** the little snake muttered as it tested Harry's name and Harry gave a small laugh at it, **"I do not have a name Harry, we are not given any unlike you humans,"** The snake answered somewhat irritated, **"I would like one though but only if I am to stay with that person,"** It added as an afterthought.

Harry thought for a bit, **"I must agree that my name is rather boring but it is still my name. Would you like to stay with me then and be my friend if I give you a name?"** He finally asked, as he thought about how he would hide the small snake in his room.

"**Oh! I would like that very much; I would be honoured for a Speaker like you take such a young and common snake as I! And to be given a name by a Speaker! Oh, how jealous other snakes would be!" **The small snake spoke ecstatically, **"...You wouldn't give me a boring name though, would you?"** It added as an afterthought, making Harry gave another small laugh.

"**I shall try not to give you a boring name then but may I ask just to check encase I am wrong. Are you a girl?"** He asked a little nervously, he would hate to offend his new friend after all.

"**Am I a girl? Well of cause I am female silly Speaker but I thank you for checking all the same, so that I may not have a male name. Now let me up, it is cold down here in your shadow,"** She added as she moved closer to Harry.

Uncertain but happy about a potential new friend, he held out he hand for her to slither onto, **"You won't bite me will you? I don't think that you are dangerous from what I read once but I think it still might hurt..."** He flinched slightly as he felt her cold smooth scales brush against his hand and then up his arm. He watched as she slithered up his arm and under his t-shirt, before stopping when her body wrapped around his forearm, while her head rest on his shoulder under his shirt.

"**I would never hurt a Speaker, it is impossible for any serpent to knowingly harm a Speaker-"** She didn't get to say any more as they both heard a shout from across the yard behind Harry.

"Hey Freak! What the hell are you doing over there?" Like whiplash Harry turned around to stare at Ericson, with his two goons Michal and Mathew behind him. Michal Conner was tall and lean, with windswept black hair, hazel eyes and a pug like nose; the stuff would say that he must have been squished while growing in his mother, while Mathew was short and stout with hazel brown hair, and blue eyes. They really did make an image when standing next to each other that it often made him want to laugh. However he really didn't want to deal with them right now as he had just made his new friend and didn't want to risk her being found yet, if ever. So while Ericson spoke his eyes scanned for all possible exits.

"You have something don't you? I know you do! Give it here you Freak!" Ericson shouted, now catching the attention of the other children but Harry didn't move so Ericson took a step closer to Harry.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you; you unwanted basted of a child!" Harry called back. Using what little control he had over his powers he pushed the three bullies to the ground before he bolted for the nearest exit, which happened to be the doors into the hall that was close to where they ate and the stairs were just around the corner at the end of the hall, which was how Harry got to where he was now.

* * *

Harry ran up the third flight of stairs towards the third floor where barely any children slept. With no more stairs to run up and the attic currently out of reach and the sound of pounding feet behind him, he turned sharply to the left and ran down the hall, that was when he felt a slight tingling feeling on his left. The door number was 27, which was odd as he had always thought that number was missing before. But with the sound of feet getting closer, likely at the start of the stairs down the hall from the slight pause, he shoved his thoughts aside and yanked the door open, all but pushing himself though the door he slammed it behind him as he looked for a place to hide.

He had enough time to notice that the walls were a mouldy yellow and that all the room held was a single steel framed bed on the right side against the wall, a old slightly-chard dark wooden wardrobe to his left in the corner and a wooden chair in the left top corner of the room before he fell to his hands and knees and by the bed and pushed himself underneath it in a vain hope of hiding, ignoring the masses of dust and dirt; his clothes needed to be washed this Saturday anyways. He hissed as he scrapped his left knee on a lose floor board but ignored it for now as he prayed that they hadn't seen him enter this room.

He held his breath; for more than one reason, as he heard them making their way down the hall towards him. He could only just hear the muffled sounds as they purposely slammed the doors loud enough so that he could hear them but knew they were also likely throwing taunts he couldn't hear. Finally he heard them right outside the door to his hiding place but they never entered.

He had waited, and waited but after five minutes after he heard them leave, so he slowly pushed himself out from under the bed, hissing again as he knocked his sore knee on the same lose floor board moving it slightly out from under the bed. Pushing himself up, he checked his knee first, there was luckily no open sore, just a scrape and some peeled skin, it was annoying but that was about it and he could tell that it was already being healed by his powers. He then glanced back around the strange room before looking back at the loose floor board, he might as well put it back in properly he thought. But as he moved the wooden board to put in back under the bed he noticed that there was something hidden underneath and since the room was clearly abandon and had been for years, he carefully put the board down and reached into the hole and pulled out a worn black leather pull-string pouch.

Carefully creeping backwards so he didn't hit his head on the bed, he sat in the middle of the room as he stared down at the pouch in his hands. It felt so light that he couldn't figure out what could possibly be in it. With nothing else distinguishable about it though, he opened the top, he could vaguely make out items but couldn't seem to really see them so he tipped it upside-down into his lap but nothing came out, even though he knew it held something. So reaching inside he pulled out a thick yellow rolled up piece of paper that was tied shut with a green ribbon.

He had never seen such a thick and yellow paper before and he couldn't help but think that it must be really old. He could see written on the front of it in neat loopy cursive, _'To whomever found this'_; it was clear that whoever put it there wanted it to be found. So he carefully pulled one of the ends of the ribbon and watched as the bow fell undone and the ribbon fell gently into his lap. Slowly he unrolled the yellow parchment as he wondered what in the world the letter could say.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Slowly he scanned over the letter he had found, and what a shocking find it was. It was beyond anything he had ever expected and oh how excited it made him and how many questions it gave him. He had to read the letter again just to make sure,

'_To whomever finds this,_

_My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. I am a 14-year-old Wizard that has been forced to grow up in the despicable Muggle world. If you are in this room; my room, then you are either a Witch or a Wizard yourself._

_You may not believe my writing, but it is the truth. I don't know how long it has been but to have entered this room you must have magic and you must have some control over it because I have used my wandless magic and and knowledge of runes that I have learnt while at school to place some basic wards over this room to make it a safe haven for a child with enough skill. You may wonder what I mean by enough skill, well you must be consciously aware of your magic and be able to show some level of control over it, otherwise you would not be here. Congratulations are in order because from what I have gathered of my three years in the Wizarding world, you are already above the average Wizarding child in skill, if not also power. Most grown Wizards seem to rely on their wands in this age in order to focus their magic enough to use it; therefore for you a child to consciously use your magic without a wand, is considered to be extremely extraordinary. This is why the wards I created allowed you entree into this room. You will find there are a few other rooms like this throughout the orphanage if you look for them._

_I don't know how time has passed but when I was growing up here, my magic made the patron and all the other residents call me the 'Devils child' but so long as you remain in this room and the person looking for you, wishes you ill-will, they cannot find you, nor enter this room. The only time any Muggle; a person born with no magic, can enter this room is if they wish to find you with 'kind' intentions or have no ill-will towards you._

_Moving onto the leather pouch you found this letter in; while I was at school I managed to put a mild undetectable extension charm and feather light charm on it, this means that it bigger on the inside and will always be as light as a feather. The size on the inside of this pouch will have a limit however as I have only just finished my third year a Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Inside you will found two rough maps to Diagon Alley, where you can find shops and other such things and Kings Cross Station where you will find the entrance to Platform 9 and ¾ when it is time for you to go to school. You will get your acceptance letter once you turn 10 if your birthday is before September 1__st__ or 11 if it is after September. There is also a copy of 'A Beginners Guide to Magic and the Wizardry World' for you to read at your leisure._

_Now before I end this letter, there is one more thing I feel I should explain to a fallow Wizard of some skill, the currency of the Wizardry world is made up of three types of coins. The largest coin is made of gold and called a Galleon, the next coin is silver and called a Sickle and finally there is a small bronze coin called a Knut. In my time one Galleon is worth 17 Sickles or 493 Knuts and a Sickle is worth 29 Knuts. The exchange rate of a Galleon into Pounds is 4.97 pounds to 1 Galleon and I am doubtful that it would have changed much, if at all as the Wizardry world seems to be stagnant. One other thing, I would suggest going to Gringotts, the wizardry bank, and asking for an inheritance test, you may find that you are not a Muggle-born but possibly a Half-blood or Pureblood. I've heard it can be costly though._

_My last bit of advice is to look out for a Wizard by the name of Albus Dumbledore. In my time he is the Transfiguration teacher at school and the Deputy Headmaster which means he may be Headmaster by your time. He likes to meddle in other peoples life's and use them like pawns in a chess game. Unless you are able to learn an art called Occlumency, do not make eye-contact, he uses subtle Legilimency to read your mind and even memories._

_What you do with this information, I leave up to you. Tom Marvolo Riddle, 5 June 1941.'_

Harry could hardly believe it but it also made so much sense. The times he has pushed one of the other kids over to protect himself or when he turned Amelia's hair blue because she was annoying him, and so many other things. Harry had always been planning for his future, even in the most basic sense from the age of 4 but this, this changed everything. This made holes in his already loose plans and gave him only basic answers but if he ever managed to meet this Tom Riddle, he would have to at least thank him. Reaching into the pouch he pulled out the book and it was amazing to watch as it seemed to squeeze between the lips of the pouch and then resize itself; '_A Beginners Guide to Magic and the Wizardry World'_, it was clearly old and second-hand, it was a rather thick book that was bound in cracked and stained brown leather with faded gold lettering on the front and spine. The pages smelled musky and like lots of old disturbed dust, not that he could tell much as that was also how the room smelt.

He flicked through to a random page that mentioned, of all things something called Chocolate Frog cards and there was a list of apparently famous people and their page numbers next to their names with brief explanations of what they did and even suggestion on other books to read to learn more about them or the subjects that made them famous, looking though the names Harry finally remembered about his little friend on his arm.

"**I'm sorry, I was so busy running to protect you and then I found this room that I completely forgot about you but I think I found a name for you,"** He gently ran his fingers over the top of her head.

The snake lifted her head of his shoulder and pointed out of the top of his shirt to look around the room, **"It is about time you remembered me Snaking; I was getting ready to do something if you didn't remember soon!"** She hissed in agitation, **"So what is the name Harry?"** She asked a little more softly but a light edge remained.

"**I was thinking of naming you Elfrida, the witch the name came from was the first Witch to apparently try to create a more fairness amongst magical beings, I'll have to read the book though to understand more,"** He tried to explain his reason to the little snake.

"**Elfrida... I like it! My name from now on is Elfrida. Thank you Harry,"** Elfrida decided as she tightened her coils ever-so-slightly in what could only be described as a snake hug before she hid back under his shirt.

"**You're welcome Elfrida. I am glad you like your name. May I ask though, did you know about magic? That's what this letter I found talks about. It was written by a boy who lived here over forty years ago and explained that to be in this room I must be a wizard and apparently one with a lot of potential. Did you know?"** He asked after his brief explanation.

"**I did Harry. That was what I was going to explain if you didn't know already, when we were interrupted. All snakes are born with a basic understand of the magical world because in order to be a speaker you have to have magic, so we are born with the instinctual information just as we are born with the instincts on how to survive,"** Elfrida explained, **"What will you do now Harry?"** She asked as an afterthought.

"**I don't know entirely. Since I was four I have saved any loose coins I find in the hopes of leaving here when I am old enough, with enough money live somewhere. I knew that much about the world back then; that I would need money to live. When I started school I came to understand from reading that you need a job. I am still learning about this world and now I must learn about a second one. I need to learn more before I can decide but I believe that if I can live in the magical world without being called a 'Freak' then I will make my life there someday. I will not however learn nothing in the 'Muggle' world,"** as the word rolled of his tongue felt so weird to say, **"Like that saying, 'Know thy enemy' and while the muggles aren't the enemy, it is clear that the two worlds are split and the Muggle one doesn't know."** Harry explained as he thought about things that really shouldn't matter to a five year old.

"**I think though that I will however move into this room, that way no one will be able to hurt me in here or try and take my things,"** He growled the last bit as he thought about the times his things have been missing but he always found them. In revenge he made the children pay by taking something of theirs and sometimes in the nastier cases, he might trip them in a hallway or something along those lines.

Getting up he make his way over to the window on the far wall and opened it to breethe in a breath of fresh air and noticed from this window that he could see to and from the front gate to the doors as he let some air in, and the proceeded to open the other window on the right wall above the steel bed. Having opened the dusted covered windows and letting some better light in, he could finally see just how dirty the room was. Harry didn't care though, he had already decided that it would be his dirty, dusty room and it wasn't like cleaning was all that new to him. Mrs. Ranch made all the children help clean around the orphanage from as soon as you could walk and talk; even if in the beginning it was just putting things away, by the age of four Harry began to learn how to clean around a room and which products to use.

As it just so happened, there were supplies that were kept in the attic for when the items being used were finished. There was also old unused furniture he could eventually float down and put in his room and if he was lucky he may even find some of the newer second-hand clothing and bed sheets and other things that he was able to take for himself from time to time.

So making his way to the door, he quietly opened the door and checked no one was around, even if everyone should be down stairs right now. See and hearing nothing he made his way back down the hall towards the stairs and turned right up the hallway straight ahead. Once at the end he used his magic to pull the leaver that opened up the attic and allowed the narrow stairs to slide down in front of him. He slowly and carefully made his way up the steps.

Once in the attic, he turned on the torch he hid up here and pulled the steps back up, shutting the trap door so that no one would notice him up there. He had found things up here that he would have liked but he always knew that they would notice but in this new room, even if they did notice, there would be nothing they could do because if they show any sign of ill-intent the wards would boot them out.

So looking around he found the supplies he needed to clean, cloth rags, lots of paper towel, a bucket, mop and broom, floor and window wash as well as a surface spray for the walls, and his furniture. He even managed to find a 'new' small second-hand vacuum cleaner. Putting it all into a box he floated it over by the trap door for when he left. That thought alone made him grin with glee.

As it was, he was in luck, as there were boxes of new supplies for the children hidden in the attic right now. They only came in every three to six months and he was always given the worst of things and the items that the other children didn't want, so looking though the boxes he put aside an empty box and put a nice black backpack and a brown saddle bag, two new pillows, three sets of newish cotton bed sheets in white and forest green, two woollen blankets as the rooms would get cold in winter and warm in summer, a new doona and 2 doona covers in plain or simple patterns in black and green, two matrass protectors so that he could swap when changing his bed; which yes he had been made to do since he turned five, he put in a new tooth brush and a tube of tooth paste for later, as well as several sets of shampoo and conditioner, and a new green sanitary bag to carry them in as his old one was a horrible stained muddy-brown one with a broken zip, and several bars of soap, some new writing utensils and a green and black pencil case, as well as some blank note books, and a black umbrella before moving onto clothes as a large portion of his wardrobe was in need of replacing but they never really let him unless he took it, he also had to get a second box as the first was full because of the blankets for the most part.

He took two pairs of blue jeans, one black pair, two pairs of shorts, two pairs of dress pants, several different t-shirts, three dress shirts, one black vest he found and one light creamy brown vest, a denim jacket, a black jacket, several jumpers, two pairs of pyjamas, two pair of black dress shoes, one he would have to grow into a little more as the better stuff only came by rarely, one pairs of white trainers, and one pair of converse since they were so cheap, some green gumboots and a thick black rain coat. Harry also found two caps in black and white, a pair of child size black sunnies and a worn silver watch with a black leather band.

Finally after moving the full box of clothing and things over by the trap door, he moved on to the furniture and things as he decided that this was the best early birthday presents he had ever had, not that he was ever given any presents unless he got it for himself. Looking through the things he decided that he would like a desk, which there were several of but he decided that he would like the old dark wooden one in the far back corner with the scratch on it and three draws on either side, stacked upside down on top of some other things was an old dark green Victorian arm chair with dark wooden legs that had a broken foot but he was sure he could fix it if he tired hard enough like that time with his teddy bear and it look so comfy to sit in, in another corner hidden behind another pile was a nice looking tall dark, narrow wooden bookshelf that had two broken selves and several chips and scratches and close by to the self was a smaller dark green cushioned, dark wooden arm chair that must have matched the other chair but was a old desk chair. It was also a nice bonus that all the pieces looked close to match the same wood colour as the wardrobe in the room his.

So leaving the furniture he wanted, he made his way back to the trap door and open it a crack to check that no one was there, seeing no-one, he opened the door and slid the steps down as quietly as possible, before floating the three boxes of down to the floor below one at a time before he climbed back down and made his way with the boxes, one at a time, to his new room where he spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning, while Elfrida complained almost constantly about the tastes in the air.

* * *

By seven o'clock he felt rather tired but now while everyone was in the dining hall eating, would be the perfect time to empty his old room. So using two of the three boxes from before, he chucked all the clothes and bed clothes he wanted to keep in one as well as some of his toiletries, and in the others he put some books he brought; since he was given very small allowance of 2 pounds a week from the time he went to school, as well as his few toys like his teddy, a old faded red wooden toy car, a puzzle and an old chess board he managed to save that still had all the pieces, as well as his treasures he had taken for every time someone wronged him; he would give them back if they ever said sorry but they never had as of yet. There was a blue broach that belonged to Sarah's mum, a set of tarot cards that belonged to Lexa; mind you she had just left the orphanage for good so he could probably just keeps them and maybe even use them what with being a wizard, a deck of playing cards that belonged to Mathew, a soccer ball that belong to Ericson; even though he never used it, and several other things. He also took out his few hidden money jars.

Back in his room Harry put the last bit of his clothes away, he lay back on his bed with is to new pillows; and unlike most things they were given at the orphanage they really were new, propped up behind him as he opened the introductory book to magic and the world it came from, while he gently reaching up and patted Elfrida who was poking her head out from the collar of his shirt.

_Welcome to the Wizardry World and magic at large! This book was written as a guide for all those Muggle-borns' out there that do not understand the world they are stepping foot into. We have our own culture and historical background that goes back beyond the first B.C. We are the ones that originally help the Muggles to be where they are today and you as a Muggle-born would do well to remember that and learn about your true heritage, but then that is why you are reading this book isn't it?_

_So let's begin..._

_...there are several complicated levels to the social structure in the Wizardry world. At the top there are the Purebloods; Wizards born from a long line of other wizards on both parental sides._

_Then there are Half-bloods; now there are four main kinds of half-bloods, Half-bloods that are born from two other half-bloods, half-bloods that are born from one pure-blood or half-blood parent and one muggle-born parent, half-bloods that are born from one pureblood or half-blood parent and a muggle, and half-bloods that are born from one pureblood or half-blood and one Creature or Being such as say a Goblin or a Giant._

_There are also half-bloods born from two muggle-born or a muggle-born and a muggle but they are more likely to be referred to as a muggle-born, unless there is at least another two to three generations have passed and occasionally there will even be a half-blood born from a squib and a muggle._

_Following half-bloods there are Squibs, they are Wizards that are born of two pureblood parents but don't have enough magic to use themselves; they are often disowned and kicked into the Muggle world to fend for themselves as they are often looked down upon as lesser. In older times it was more common for them to be killed at birth so as to not risk being a threat in the future._

_Finally there are Muggle-borns, Wizards born to two seemingly ordinary muggle parents but are born with magic themselves, what many have forgotten is that if they were to trace their family back, you would find that they have a squib somewhere in one of their parents heritage._

_Last of all there are Creatures and Beings. The Witches and Wizards of the Wizardry world would like to say and will say that they treat all beings fairly, but in truth, they only ever look out for themselves. I would like to write this book saying how great we are as a race, but that would be a lie. We have the capability to be great but sometime in the medieval era or possible before that, we have lost track of who we are as people and our purpose in the world..._

Harry gave a small sigh as he looked at the time on his new watch, nine –thirty at night but he was just so tired from the day and he had already read close to half of the thick book but his new bed was just so comfortable that he was certain that the last tenant of this room, Tom Riddle had done something to make the mattress as soft and comfortable as possible, it would also explain why the room was twice the size of a standard room at the orphanage when all logic point out that it shouldn't be possible. He sighed as he decided that he could go one night without a meal; it wasn't like he hadn't done so before, he would just make sure to eat extra tomorrow before school. Turning the light off, he fell asleep thinking about what he had learned so far from the book about the structure of the Wizardry world.

It truly was interesting, if a bit disappointing at how biased they sounded, because they didn't at the same time he could understand a least their grudge against the muggle-borns and how they were forcing the older wizardry families to change thousand year old traditions and culture because they didn't understand and refused to even try to see it their way, which really made him more annoyed with the muggle-borns then the purebloods. He swore that he would do better than the other muggle-borns and would embrace the wizardry world and its traditions with open eyes and arms.

He had already read briefly about each of the eight sabbats; which where the equivalent of holidays in the wizardry world, the most noticeable witches through history up to the start of the 1900's; which meant this book was older than he had first thought, and some of the more common traditions, culture and laws of the wizardry world. Harry had just finished reading about light and dark magic but not much and it seemed to focus more on light magic and how 'good' it was when he had stopped.


	4. Chapter Three

This is the last chapter I had written before posting this story. Now I can finally get on with other chapters.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Harry was glad that it was close to the end of the school year, it meant he would have more time to focus on his new plans for the future; which so far Harry had only a vague idea of and he had spent the whole day thinking about it.

'But really how does one decide such things when they know little of the world they are entering?' Harry thought to himself as he walked to the local library before heading back to the orphanage.

He had come to the conclusion that he would have to speed up his Muggle education as he aimed to finish most of his secondary school by the time he received his letter and from there he would just have to finish the rest in his holidays. It helped that his teachers who were always watching him had been suggesting that he possible skip fifth grade and so he was going to finalise that next week before the holidays started. He had also decided that it was time he homed some of his more unsavoury skills if he wished to have money to get by in the new world. Harry's final decision was to see what information he could gather about magic from the muggle world as surely there were some things that had managed to leak through; such as stories of Merlin.

Entering the library, Harry grabbed a red wagon that he kept behind the librarian desk for when he wanted to take more books to read than he could carry as he was greeted by a smile from the librarian Mrs Smelton who was a well aged old woman with her grey hair pulled back in a neat bun and stern blue eyes. Harry visited the library so often that she often watched out for him and helped him get any books he couldn't reach; at first she tried to get him to read the children's books, which he did for a while, but he quickly grew bored of them and moved on to more knowledge filled books, so she followed him today when she saw him head to the children's sections.

"Good afternoon Harry. Is there anything in particular that you are looking for today?" She asked as Harry grabbed several books on fairy tales from different cultures.

"Afternoon Mrs Smelton, I am working on a project for school concerning the history, myths and culture behind magic, the witch burnings, herbal medicine and more. I want to look at the subject from every possible cultural background and find the common grounds, so I thought I would begin with the most well known fairy tales, such as Grim's Fairy Tales, A Sprig of Rosemary and Tales of the West Highlands," Harry explained as he grabbed another book and put it in his cart. "From there I wish to look at anything on the subject in the non-fiction section," He finished explaining as he looked through the handful of books he had, satisfied that they would be enough for now.

"Ah, well then I can think of several that will help you. Come this way," Mrs Smelton said, leading the way.

In the end Mrs Smelton lead Harry through several sections of the library as she help him to find books on gardening, herbs, herbal medicine, the witch burnings, magic, the sabbats, wiccan reed, famous wizards through history, medieval history, Tales of Merlin and much more. What Harry didn't know was that Mrs Smelton came from a long-line of squibs that while they had no contact with the wizardry world, had manage to keep their knowledge and hoped for the day they could enter again, unfortunately Mrs Smelton was the last but she was certain that there was something special about Harry.

Back in his room, Harry left the wagon of books in the corner by the chair as he sat down in the middle of his floor with Elfrida; who he had left on a pillow of his bed while at school, wrapped around his shoulders as he completed his homework, as well as the test he had been handed in order to skip a grade when school restarted.

Two hours later with his homework complete he pulled aside the collection of fairy tales he had, a plain note book and pen and the introduction book he got from Tom and began to read the stories as he wrote down what abilities and traits he noted though out the tales that sound similar to subjects mentioned in the book to find how information may have leaked into the muggle world. By the end Harry had two lists that consisted of Sword play, archery, daggers, combat in some form and general fitness for the warriors. Then he had;

- Poison/medicines – Potions

- Transformations/ability to change things/alter reality – Transfiguration

- Ability to read the future/present/past – Divination/Astronomy

- Spells to effect people/things – Charms, Jinxs, Hexs

- Plants/herbs/gardening – Herbology

- Strange symbols/mythological symbols – Runes/Alchemy

- Mythical creatures – Care of Magical Creatures

- Spirits/ghosts/undead - Ghoul Studies

"**What do you think Elfrida? You think I missed any subjects mentioned in the tales?"** Harry asked Elfrida as he gently stroked her head.

"**I don't think so,"** Elfrida hissed softly, unsure of her answer, **"but I think you need to figure-out from that list, what you can learn right now from the muggle-world,"** She added as an afterthought.

"**Hmm yes,"** Harry agreed with Elfrida, **"I do suppose that there are some I will not be able to do much about until I either enter the Wizardry world or Hogwarts. I guess I should start with the physical side as from what I gather; wizards are not often very fit so that alone would give me an advantage if I should ever need it and assuming the world is still in the in the middle-ages like Toms letter implied, why should I not learn to use a sword, daggers and a bow. Even if I don't need it, it does sound interesting,"** Harry explained his thought to Elfrida as he started a new list on things he would look into learning while dreaming of possible futures.

"**I should also learn Latin as it is apparently the most used language for spells, and assuming from the fact that Latin is such an old language, I should look at other ancient languages as well,"** Harry thought as he added it to his list.

"**What about more common languages, surly there is magic in other parts of the world?"** Elfrida asked as she looked at all of Harry's books from his shoulder.

"**I hadn't quite thought about it, but it does make sense and in the list of famous wizards in the book there were some mentioned to be French and I think other origans as well, so I should add at least French to the list,"** He thought as he taped the end of his pencil against his chin.

"**I'll most defiantly read up on herbs, plants and herbal medicine, that's for sure. I can't do much in way of potions right now but assuming that cooking is similar I can learn some in the future for practise and I know there is plenty on divination in the muggle world, for Runes I think I should also read up on mythology, which may also help give me knowledge on at least a few magical creatures that may exists, and I can keep an eye out for things that seem like spells or charms but I feel doubtful about there be any real things on it in the muggle world,"** Harry spoke as he looked down at his list, **"Did I miss anything Elfrida?"** He asked in thought.

"**Yes, I think so. What about things like etiquette and what about that tale with the man that played a flute to guide all the rats away? Perhaps you should also look at music, it would also be a good skill to learn and possible be able to use it with magic in the future,"** Elfrida said with a meaningful look, **"Besides, I would like to hear you play in the future and it would surely draw all the young maidens like the stories,"** She added childishly, which made a slight pink tinge Harry's cheeks.

"**I will look into to it Elfrida, thank you,"** He said as he added etiquette and music to the list, **"I suppose on that bases of etiquette and manners to fit into a more refined culture that I should also look into dancing so that I may be a true gentleman like in stories,"** Harry added as an afterthought so in the end Harry's short list had become somewhat long with ideas of what he may need for the future which consisted of martial arts, weapons, languages – Latin, French and possibly more, gardening, cooking, divination, runes, mythology, magical creatures, music, etiquette and dancing.

With a vague idea of what to teach himself or find lessons for, Harry moved the pile of classic fairy tales to rest on the chair in the corner, along with his note book and the introduction book as he currently didn't have a bookshelf in his room.

With the objective of trying to fix some furniture for his room, he made his way to the trapdoor for the attic and after making sure no one was there quickly made his way up and shut the door behind him.

"**Its stale up here,"** Elfrida whined almost immediately, as she hid her head underneath Harry's shirt making Harry laugh lightly.

"**Yes, I do suppose it would be, wouldn't it?"** Harry answered back as he made his way over to a random pile of broken or unwanted items and picked up a small wooden statue of a horse reared up on it's to back legs that had its two front legs missing.

Setting the horse on the ground with its two legs next to it, he sat down with his legs crossed as he fiddled with the horse and tried to see what it should have looked like before setting it down once more and trying to visualise what he wanted in his mind he tried to push that thought forward of what he wanted his magic to do. At first nothing seemed to happen, but after ten minutes of sitting there trying to push forward what he wanted with the constant thought of 'repairing what was broken', the legs moved into position and seamlessly reattached themselves as if they were never broken. Ecstatic that it worked, Harry went and grabbed a broken brown clay vase and five minutes later it was fixed. With two things fixed with his magic, Harry floated the broken armchair down from the pile and after making sure he knew what he wanted it to look like, he sat down to try again. In fewer ten minutes he had the broken foot of the legs fixed and whole again.

Brushing the dust away he jumped into the seat with joy at how comfortable it felt. Happy with his achievements, he decided to take the arm chair and the vase to his room before he tried anything else.

Once in his room, he placed the armchair against the wall opposite his bed for now and placed the vase on the far windowsill. Next he repaired the bookshelf he wanted, that took him fifteen minutes to do which he then carefully moved back to his room where he placed it against the wall by the door and preceded to float his handful of books to the top self and put all the ones he had borrowed on the shelf with in arms reach. After that he easily fixed the desk of any scratches but he had a hard time having to twist it around in the air, in order to get it through the trap door and the last thing was the chair which was by far easier to fix and take to his room, where he placed the desk against the far wall in the left corner under the window and lastly he twisted his wardrobe so that it was sitting in the corner diagonally and placed the old wooden chair in another unused room.

"I officially love my new room!" Harry all but shouted as there was no one to hear him but Elfrida, as he lay back on his bed and admired his work.

"**It is rather nice now, if only you could do something about the yellow walls..."** Elfrida commented as she curled up on the pillow next to Harry.

"**Elfrida, I think I am slowly coming to the conclusion that anything is possible,"** Harry said with a grin as he relaxed with his arms behind his head.

The next day Harry woke up with the sun and quietly crept down stairs to the basement, it was Saturday and that meant that it was also laundry day. Ordinarily the older children and stuff were meant to help the younger children but this was just another thing that Harry had learnt to do for himself, because if he didn't they would find a way to either ruin or lose his clothes from time to time. So Harry had a habit of always waking with the sun so that he could wash his things before any of the other children or stuff were up.

Half an hour later Harry carried his small load back up stairs and after opening his windows he tired up some string between the curtain-less window rods and the hook on the back of his door to hang his small pile of washing. With that done, he went down to get some breakfast made for himself and decided to finish the book.

Nearing nine o'clock in the morning Harry finished reading the 'Introduction to Magic and the Wizardry World' and learnt in the vaguest of sense about its history, several known magical schools around the world; Hogwarts in Scotland, Drumstang Institute in Norway, Mahoutokoro in Japan, Beaxbatons in France, Belomagica in Brazil and Salem Witches' Institute in America. This gave Harry several more languages he wished to learn including Norwegian, German, Japanese and Portuguese.

There were also a few other styles of smaller schools mentioned, such as Charm School which was located somewhere in Great Britain; where well off young witches and wizards born in the wizardry world went before Hogwarts. This was something which annoyed Harry as it clearly put muggle-borns such as himself at a large disadvantage but it also made him want to work harder to be the best. He also learnt more about cores and how it was like a muscle, in order for you to have better control of it and for it to get stronger you had to exercise it regularly. It also suggested meditating regularly in order to be more aware of your core and your magic as it circulated though your body.

Harry gave a small smile as he shoved his thoughts about the many tasks ahead of himself away while giving Elfrida a pat on the head.

"**So, shall we begin accumulating more money for to see the new world?"** Harry asked Elfrida with a grin as he gently placed her on the bed and moved over to his wardrobe when he pulled out a set of some of his best casual clothes and grabbed his saddle bag.

He left the orphanage unnoticed wearing a pair of cream pressed shorts, a white short-sleeve button up shirt and his black jacket and his fixed, new looking brown saddle bag and caught a bus to a somewhat close but richer side of town where he spent the day unnoticed as he walked around and used his magic to slip peoples wallets from their pockets as he pasted them. He then spent his afternoon reading in his room before he made an appearance for dinner, less they think he had run away or something, not that they would care much but the less he was noticed the better. He then repeated most of what he did the day before on Sunday with the slight difference being that instead of doing washing, which he had put away before he went to sleep last night, he had to spend his morning sitting on a stiff wooden bench as he was forced to listen to the priest harp on about his holy father and what not.

By the end of the weekend he had 800 pounds from all the unsuspecting upper class that he put away to exchange plus a little more he kept to use in the muggle world. He could have done similar in the past but at the time he was afraid of being caught out and even in his best clothes he would have stuck out more now at close to six-years-old he could pass off as a seven, so people will still question it but not as much, and besides he didn't feel he had a good enough reason to either as he as getting by. But now with the need for money in the new world, well that made it different, it was more urgent. With rough calculations on the basis that the exchange rate was still $4.97 to 1 Galleon, Harry guessed he had about 160 galleons, 5 sickles and 2 knuts. He just hoped that was enough for a day when he went to see the place for the first time.


	5. Chapter Four

Before I say anything else I want to say, it only took a little under 19hrs for this story to appear when I posted the first 4 chapters because of a glitch or something. How annoying, I do hope it doesn't take half as long for this one to appear.

**Special thank you** to My Alternate Reality, Aridethdar, Man of Constant Sorrow and xXSakuraBlossomsXx for sending me reviews and letting me know what they thought and also to Man of Constant Sorrow for bring my attention to something I had honestly forgot to think about but now I've manage to find somewhere to squeeze it in ahead without having to back track. XD

Now one with the show.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

After the weekend, Harry finished his last week of school. He passed the test to skip a year with ease and was now set to complete his sixth and final year of Junior school the following school year. He continued with his self teaching from the books he got at the library, reading though them at a reasonably fast pace. Finally the summer holidays came three weeks into the month of June and many children were seen grinning and laughing as they spoke of all their plans they had for the six week long holiday.

But young Harry paid this no mind, he had his own plans to complete, such as the fact that he had now taken up mixed Martial arts class ever Tuesday and Friday from six to seven at night for the next year at least. He wanted to do sword fighting and archery as well but he thought that they might think him still too young, so instead he stuck to reading books on the subjects for now. He had also signed up for an Art class on Mondays from four thirty to five thirty, which would start again after the holidays and was followed by his soccer practice from five thirty to six thirty. You would think that Harry vanishing for hours would worry the workers at the orphanage and in any other case it might have, but in truth they were beyond caring where young Harry was concerned.

Learning aside, Harry had to admit at least to himself, that he was truly excited about these holidays, more specifically today. As for the first time ever he was going to see the Wizardry world as his early birthday present to himself, he was currently sitting on a bus to Charing Cross road.

So at nine thirty in the morning, roughly twenty minutes later, bus number 88 pulled up at Harry's stop which was around the corner from his destination. The closer he got, the more excited he felt. Not that you would be able to tell much as Harry had already schooled his face to an expression of calm, as if what he was about to see for the first time was an everyday occurrence to him like, all the rest.

He made his way up Charing Cross road at a slow pace as he observed how the larger percentage of people; the muggles he thought to himself, walked straight by the tiny grubby-looking bar called the Leaky Cauldron. Slowly he pushed the door open and coolly took in his first real glance at the Wizardry world.

To say he felt a little shot down, might have been an understatement. According to the book he had read, the Leaky Cauldron was supposed to be a very famous place but from what Harry could see it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smocking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the barman, whose hairline had receded halfway back on his head and looked like a gummy walnut. A few heads turned to look his way before going back to whatever they were doing. Some even sneered at the muggle clothes he was wearing, which was saying something as he was wearing his best black pants, a white button up shirt with his black vest and black dress shoes but then again maybe it was something else they didn't like. The barman was still busy talking and Harry didn't want to draw more attention to himself then he needed to, so he quickly made his way to the door at the back; which the book had mentioned led to the entrance of the alleyway.

Harry found himself in a small, closed-in courtyard, where there was nothing but a dust bin and a few weeds, just like the book described, well aside from the weeds. He counted the bricks on the wall above the bin in his mind he prepared himself for the unknown.

"Three up ... Two across ..." he mumbled under his breath as he pulled some of his magic into his right hand and tapped the brick on the wall three times.

The brick he had touched quivered and wriggled before slowly at first, a small hole appeared in the middle and grew wider and wider. A second later Harry found himself facing an archway larger enough for someone 12 feet tall to fit though.

The first thing he noticed about the cobble street before him was how it twisted and turned out of sight. That aside Diagon Alley was truly a sight to behold. He walked forward calmly with an air of confidence and false fad of awareness as he subtlety took in the sights around him as a giddy feeling filled him.

The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. _Cauldrons – All Sizes – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver – Self-Stirring – Collapsible_ said a sign hanging over them. He carefully took in the sights of things around him as he walked up the street; the shops, the things outside them, and the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as he passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..."

A low soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying _Eeylops Owl Emporium – Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy_. Several boys of varying ages that were older than Harry by a few years, had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus One Thousand Nine Hundred – fastest broom ever–" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon and much more.

Finally Harry came to the building that had been mentioned in the book, Gringotts Wizardry Bank. The snow-white marble building seemed to tower over the other little shops. Standing besides its burnished bronze doors wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold were two Goblins, just as the book said, Harry thought as he made his way to the doors, giving a small nod to each of the Goblins as he enter after briefly reading the warning on the glass.

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn,_

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

Inside, there weren't that many people, possible because of the time so Harry made his way over to a counter and waited quietly as the Goblin finished weighing what Harry recognised had to be Galleons before he spoke.

"Yes?" The goblin asked as he stared down his long nose at Harry who didn't reach the height of the counter.

"Excuse me; I'd like to exchange these rolls of muggle money to Galleons if you please. There is eight hundred dollars all together. Unfortunately I am unsure of the exact exchange rate right now," Harry tired to be polite as he reached up on his tippy-toes to give the goblin his eight rolls of muggle money.

"Do you have a purse to put it in?" The goblin drawled as he counted over the money.

"No, I am afraid I do not. I was hoping that you could help pervade me with one, I'll pay for it of cause," Harry politely replied.

"Fine then, the exchange rate is currently at 4.97 pounds to 1 galleon. So you will have 160 galleons, 5 sickles and 2 knuts. A stranded purse with an invisible extension, feather light and anti thieving charm will cost you 5 galleons," The goblin coolly replied.

"That will be acceptable. Would you please take the amount needed and put the rest in the purse." Harry asked and he began to think of what to look at first. It only took the goblin a few minutes to get the needed amount of money for Harry, who quickly put the purse in his pocket before thanking the goblin and exiting the bank.

Focusing more on the sights of the shops around him now that he had money Harry thought of what he should get first, while contemplating how far the money he had would last him. As he walked around scouting the buildings, he had seen at least five stores that sold strange pieces of things in jars; Apothecaries he thought to himself but he wasn't interested in going to them yet. Two pet shops, a strange holiday agency called 'TerrorTours', two wand shops; though one seemed to be more favoured then the other and many more places. All the while the bag of gold, silver, and bronze jangling cheerfully in Harry's pocket was clamouring to be spent. Finally he came upon a store titled 'Second-Hand Robes'. He had seen it when making his way to the bank and thought that it would be best to blend in a little more before he decided on anything else but also had no idea what prices might be like.

With that in mind he entered the store. The sound of a bell jingling greeted him as he pushed the door open and took his first look around. The shop was long and thin with dark creamy-yellow walls and wooden cupboards with dark red wood benches and trimming around the walls and windows and every rack or shelf was filled with such a clutter of mixed variety of robs and other clothing that Harry almost didn't know where to start. So not seeing the store owner or a worker, Harry made his way to the first rack he saw and began his search for a reasonable piece of clothing to wear.

There were some styles so old that Harry didn't even know why they were there to begin with, ones with puffy ringed necks and extremely frilly sleeves and ones in the most horde colour combination that he was certain the person had to have been colour-blind. He was on to his third rack and had only found one reasonable dull-black cloak with basic silver clasp in his size, when he felt something fluffy brush against the back of his leg, looking down he was greeted by the sight of a fluffy grey cat with intelligent hazel eyes.

Kneeling down, he gently ran his hand down the cats back and began to scratch behind it ears. "So what is your name oh graceful cat?" he asked as the cat began to purr from all the attention, not that he expected an answer. His thoughts however were interrupted when he heard the sound of footsteps.

"There you are Thomas!" the voice of a young woman rang though the room. She was a tall, pale, willowy woman with shoulder length curled brown hair style like it was the fifty's and pale green eyes that sparkled against her violet robs. She had stopped rather suddenly when she spotted Harry down by the cat, "Oh hello! I'm sorry I didn't see you when you came in," she exclaimed, "So I just assumed that someone had changed their mind after opening the door, so I went back to cleaning up the back room. I'm Gianni by the way, Talia Gianni." She finally introduced herself, ending in a lower tone then when she first started talking, her face slightly flushed from embarrassment.

"I'm Harry, Miss Gianni and please don't worry about it. I was just looking, hoping to find a reasonable set of robs in my size but I've only found this cloak so far." Harry explained as he brushed invisible dust from his pants after standing up.

"Oh, well let's go over this way then," Miss Gianni motioned with her hand as she began to walk further into the store her robs flowing elegantly behind her, "There are more children size over here, plus I can help you to pick out something closer to this eras fashion. You didn't hear this from me Harry," she cupped her hand around her mouth as she began to whisper, "but the reason those hurried outdated pieces are at the front is in so that someone foolish enough will buy them and then I won't have to look at them again." She winked as she began to flick though a racks of something both nice and in Harry's size or close to.

She would grab a piece, hold it against Harry to check, if she thought it was reasonable, she would then ask what he thought, before either putting it back or adding it to a small ever growing pile to try on. Finally when she felt they had enough she led him through a red curtain on the left hand side near the back, where she had him try each of the items on to check both their size and if they suited.

"So Harry, I didn't ask earlier because it's not entirely unusual for children to be told to get something in particular while parents take care of something but where are you parents or guardian?" Miss Gianni asked as she pinned the hem up on a practically nice midnight blue robe with silver trimming that some rich child probable never even wore; while Harry stood on a raised platform.

It wasn't hard or even anything new for Harry to think of something reasonable on the spot, "My parents said that they would meet me at the book shop because my father hates shopping and if my mother were here she would ended up trying to buy too much," he rolled his eyes as he said this, "she simply loves to shop too much and as father often says, 'doesn't know how to or isn't capable of saving money'." He sighed for in mild frustration.

"Ah, I see now. Well I'm finished with this rob now and I must say it look marvels on you Harry," If Miss Gianni were a cat, one might think she had just been given creamed milk with how pleased she looked as she looked over the adjustments she had made to the robe to make it fit Harry's slightly thin frame and height. "Now why don't you go try on the green and black one, and then you'll have tried every piece we chose on, and we'll see how it looks," she turned around and waved her wand, whispering incantations to clean up the small mess that had been made from trimming some of the robs, cloaks and other bits of clothing. When she turned around Harry was back in the too long black and green rob and had the blue robe folded in his arms which he handed to Gianni to add to the small pile.

It wasn't long; a pin here, a stitch there, a trim there, and the faded black and green robe with a high collar, tight sleeves and slightly filly sleeve ends fitted Harry just as well as the blue one.

"Thank you for the help Miss Gianni. May I go and change into the blue robe before paying?" Harry asked as he stepped down from the platform while Gianni put things away.

"Go ahead Harry, I'll meet you out front with your other items," Gianni said as she charmed the broom in the corner to sweep the floor for anything she missed.

Shortly thereafter Harry came to the front of the store with the black and green robe in his arms as Ms Gianni rung up his shopping. He ended up getting two black cloaks, one for summer and the other for winter, three sets of robes; the blue one he was wearing, the black and green set and a pain black set.

"Now let's see the summer cloak is 17 knuts, the winter one is 3 sickles, the plain black robes are 27 knuts, the green ones are 3 sickles and the blue ones are 7 sickles so that come to a total of 14 sickles and 15 knuts." Gianni said as she put Harry's things into a heshen shopping bag with a shallow extension charm on it and Harry quickly paid with a thank you and left for his next destination.

Harry's next stop and part of his birthday present to himself was to go to the book shop called Flourish and Blotts and depending on the prices he would buy one or more books brand new for himself. When he entered the busy store it wasn't hard to see that the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all.

Looking around he soon come upon one of the sections he wanted to see the most for more information, History. There were so many books that he felt like he didn't quite know where to began but in the end he decided upon four books about history, '_Modern Magical History, __The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, __Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century and Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century'_ so that he might know about any important events and people. Harry also added four law books to his pile, _'__Laws of Conduct When Dealing With Muggles, Legislative Guide to the Proper Use of Magic__, __Magical Misdemeanors in the Modern Law__ and __Magical Moral Perspective__'_. He then proceeded to glance though the other subjects available but made himself not pick them up because he didn't want to spend too much; even if the book titled _'Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian'_ sounded very interesting and he was certain he would come back for it another time and besides he could always look at the second hand stores. In the end those four history books cost him 13 galleons and the law books cost 20 galleons, which was way more then he inted to spend but also goes to show how much cheaper things were second-hand in the wizardry world.

It was when he was in Cranville Quincey's Magical Junkshop that Harry came upon something strange. On a shelf at the back of the store, in amongst many books was a book series called _'The Adventures of Harry Potter'_; it seemed to be about a boy of similar description to himself, but where he had dark brown hair the boy had black, and where he had perfect twenty-twenty vision the character in the book wore large, round over the top glasses. And the stories, they were so unbelievable; a seven year old boy fighting off a fire breathing dragon, yeah right. Though he would likely deny it, he did add them to his shopping basket anyways because he was curious about all forms of the new world he had discovered and that just happened to included children's books too.

So with his wish to start from the bottom up and learn about this world, he added more than a few children's books to his items since they were only a few knuts each. He had a copy of '_Children's Stories – 5 knuts'_; which seemed to have a lot of magical version of the common muggle fairytales such as Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, _'__The __Magic Storybook – 10 knuts'_; it was charmed to read out-loud, _'__The Tales of Beedle the Bard__ by Beedle the Bard – 7 knuts, __The Toadstool Tales__ by Beatrix Bloxam – 1 knut,__ A Children's Anthology of Monsters by Newton Scamander – 5 knuts__ and Houshold Stories by Brothers Grim – 3 knuts_'. He also came across two comic books called 'The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle and Loony Nonby v.s. Cornish Pixie – 1 knut each', all of which sounded interesting.

Aside from children's books he did discover one strange book by itself, it was called _'__Pure-Blood Directory by Anonymous'_, although on it spine underneath that someone had scribbled _'By Cantankerus Nott'_. It sounded like it would have some interesting insight so he added it the pile. In the end the total for the complete set of Harry Potter was 14 sickles; 2 sickles a book, the other children's books cost 1 sickle and 2 knuts, the comics were a knut each and the _Pure-Blood Directory_ cost 10 sickles, so it came to a total of 1 galleon, 8 sickles and 4 knuts.

With what seemed like some of the more important things to do out of the way, Harry decided that it was time to be the child he was so he walked back up the alley to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. It was while waiting in line, close to being served, that he met another boy his own age. A man behind his had pushed him, causing him to falling into the boy's back.

"I apologise, I didn't mean to fall into you," Harry explained as he right himself and took a step back. "My name is Harry," He smiled as he held out his hand for the boy that was now facing him with a look of veiled annoyance on his face. He was lanky looking with short fiery red hair, blue eyes, a long nose and a freckled complexion. You could tell he wasn't the best-off by his worn, hand-me down cloths, for him to get an ice-cream might have even been a rare treat. The boy seemed to look him up and down before a sneer graced his features.

"Don't touch me you Death Eater in training," he then turned his back to Harry and proceeded to order himself a single scoop of cookies and cauldron cakes. Harry didn't quite know how to feel at first but in the end he schooled his face to look blank as he tried to ignore the feeling of disappointment, his thoughts however were quickly interrupted.

"Ignore Ickle Ronniekins–" A voice spoke up from the left in front of him, drawing his attention to a pair of identical boys who must have been the other boy's brothers because they had the same flaming red hair, blue eyes and abundant of freckles but where the boy seemed lanky, these boys were of a shorter and stockier build for their age, that is not to say that they were shorter than their brother, for they were not.

"He doesn't know–" the one on the right took over from the other.

"The first thing–" They ping-ponged back and forth.

"About manners–" His head pulled right.

"Harry was it?" Then left again, hardly keeping up with their odd way of speaking. 'Were they telepathic like he had read about in a book from the library?' he had to ask himself, before realising they were done speak for the moment and were waiting for an answer and that it was his turn to be served.

"Yes, I'm Harry. One moment please," Harry apologised as he quickly ordered himself a large, double scoop chocolate and raspberry flavoured ice cream with chopped nuts sprinkled on top for 4 sickles and 2 knuts for the extra nuts on top.

Seeing that the two brothers didn't have an ice-cream like their brother and feeling generous because they were being friendly so far, he turned to face them for a second, "I noticed that you don't have an ice-cream like your 'brother'?' he questioned himself on the odd possibility that he was wrong, "Would you like one?" he finally asked and watched as their eyes lit-up.

They turned to look at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation before they both nodded and faced Harry again.

"We would very much like one each if your okay with it, one scoop is fine though. We don't need two," they seemed to speak at the same time.

Harry smiled, "Tell Mr," Harry glanced at the brown haired ice-cream mans name, "Fortescue what you would like then." So the twins ordered a scoop Jelly Slug ice-cream each, which Harry happily paid the 2 sickles and 6 knuts for the two ice-creams, before the three boys made their way over to a booth, the twins little brother 'Ronniekins', having already run off somewhere.

"Thank you Harry–" the twin on the left in front of him started.

"You didn't have to buy us these–" The one on the right continued.

"And we have forgotten to introduce ourselves,–" Harry's head was turning left and right again.

"He's Fred–" the one on the left named the one on the right,

"And he's George Weasley." Fred finished for them.

"Well it's nice to meet you Fred and George, and it okay. I can't say I can do it often but you were kind to me and apologised for you brother, so it only seemed right that I thank you in kind." Harry explained to the two twins while he enjoyed one of the few ice-creams he has ever had.

"So how old are you? I'm six, although I'll be seven really soon" Harry announce with a grin, his curiosity peeked.

The twins grinned, "We're nine! And in two more years we'll finally get to go to Hogwarts!" they cheered with excitement as they finished their ice-creams. Suddenly they both got a look of dread on their faces.

"Thank you again for the ice-cream but we really have to go!" Fred said suddenly look somewhat pale.

"We'll owl you if you like! Our brat of a brother Ron must have told on us again. Although for what, I wouldn't know." George explained with a similar colourless face, before they both ran out the door.

Out the window Harry could see a short, plump woman screaming at the twins so loudly that you could hear ever word though out the whole street as she chewed them out about abandoning their little brother. You could tell she was their mother though by the same fiery red hair, even if she did have bright brown eyes and a fair completion. Although if you were to ask Harry, he would tell you that she looked more like a sabre-tooth tiger with how angry she was. It wasn't long though before she had them each by an ear as she dragged them back towards the Leaky Cauldron, a smirking Ron following behind them.

So having finished his ice-cream and potentially making two friends, Harry made his way to his next destination for the day, the Daily Prophet's main office; magical Britain's newspaper and made a yearly subscription to be delivered to him daily by owl for 12 sickles and 17 knuts or 1 knut for every paper delivered. Followed by Scribbulus Writing Implements where he acquired a 'Stranded copy book'; which is a spell book to help children or muggle-borns learn to write with a quill and ink so that their writing wasn't messy and they didn't get blotches of ink on their writing, he also brought several quills, packets of parchment, envelopes and bottles of black ink for 7 galleons and 5 knuts.

Harry then went to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, to see if there was anything he could use that wouldn't risk the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy in the muggle world. Harry ended up buying several dungbombs, hiccough sweets, bars of frog spawn soap, itching powder and a nose-biting teacup to use on the more 'annoying' muggles at the orphanage for 2 galleons and 14 sickles, before he decided to have lunch for the day before heading back to the orphanage.

It was while Harry was sitting in a small cosy teashop called Rosa Lee Teabag that Harry met a third interesting person. She just happened to trip as she was looking for a table and knocked Harry's pumpkin juice all over the table.

"I'm so sorry! I'm such a cluts, always trip over nothing!" the young teenage girl who had shoulder-length bubble gum pink hair and dark blue eyes, began to apologise profusely as she helped to clean up the mess. Harry hardly got a word in over her constant apologies and then suddenly she was gone and had came back with a new glass of pumpkin juice for Harry.

"It's okay," Harry was finally able to say, when the girl came back, "and thank you. You didn't have to buy me a new drink after helping clean up the mess. I was just about to order some lunch and I noticed you had been looking for a place to sit before you tripped, would you like share the table with me? I don't mind," And Harry wouldn't, he was normally forced to eat alone at the orphanage and he had children he played with at school but he wouldn't really call them friend because they were still so different from him.

"Of cause I had to buy you a new one, I spilt you last one didn't I? And thank you, I'd love too, plus it seems to be really full here today," The young girl sat down in the seat across from Harry, "I'm Tonks by the way. Well Nymphadora Tonks really but I hate my first name. My mother was a Black but she married a muggle-born and named me Nymphadora to break the tradition of always name a Black after a star constellations. I sometimes wonder what I might have been named if she hadn't though..," suddenly she seemed to stop speaking and her face had taken a pink tinge again, "Sorry, I'm talking too much again…" she trailed off embarrassed.

Harry smiled softly, "That's okay and I'm Harry and if you don't like your name but would rather not go by your last name, why not take up a nickname?" Harry suggested.

Tonks eyes lit up with interest, "I hadn't thought of that but I always thought a nickname was something given to you by someone else like a friend, so I guess it just never occurred to me." She explained in thought.

"Well if it must come from a friend then let's try this again," Harry said standing up and walking to Tonks side. "Hi, my names Harry and I'll be 7 soon. I wouldn't mind being your friend," Harry held out his hand.

Tonks looked at him for a second before she smiled, while holding in a small laugh, even though a giggle escaped, "Hello Harry, my name is Nymphadora Tonks and I turned 14 on the 3rd of April," she held out her hand to shake Harry's but he instead surprised her by bending over and kissing the back of her hand, causing many of the customers at other tables to giggle or chuckle at the image and all the woman to cooed at how cute Harry was.

Harry straitened up, "It is an honour to make your acquaintance Nymphadora. Would it be alright with you if I call you Norma, after the stars?" He asked, not really seeing how this scene could be taken if he were older, "Norma is the only constellation that begans with an 'N' like Nymphadora," Harry explained his reasoning.

Nymphadora didn't know whether to feel embarrassed by the scene or to coo with the other woman at how cute Harry was being, in the end she seemed to settle for a bit of both and couldn't help but giggle, "I love the name Norma, thank you Harry. Now how about we order our lunch," she said while still stifling giggles and so Harry made his third friend that day and enjoyed a lovely lunch with Norma, who then proceed to take Harry to Quality Quidditch Supplies where she brought him a copy of 'Quidditch Though the Ages' and said that it was a thank you present and that he could take it as an early birthday present if it made him feel better; though Harry couldn't help but think it had more to do with how little he knew about the sport.

They also went to Sugarplum's Sweet Shop where Harry brought 10 Chocolate Frogs, 2 boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, 2 Droobles Best Blowing Gum, 2 Pumpkin Pasties, 2 Cauldron Cakes and 2 Liquorice Wands for 9 galleons and 9 sickles. At the time there was a boy there named Derek; he was a year older then Harry with dark brown hair and eyes and pale skin, he had opened a chocolate frog only to sigh in annoyance when he got a chocolate frog card he already had so he just gave it to Harry. It was about a wizard called 'Justus Pilliwickle'.

JUSTUS PILLIWICKLE

(1862-1953)

'He worked for the Ministry of Magic and was a celebrated Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

This of cause prompted Norma to get Harry a Folio Universitas; a large purple and gold folder with which he could store his collection of Famous Wizard Cards and a Folio Triplicus; which was a miniature green and gold one that was used to store a small handful of cards for when you were out or just to store them safely until you could put them into the Folio Universitas.

Norma and Harry then parted ways with Norma forcing a promise from Harry to keep in touch. Harry then caught a bus back, hopping off a few streets from the orphanage, he walked the rest of the way and quickly made his way to his room where he stored all of the items away; books on the bookshelf, sweets in his bedside table and pranking items in a box in his wardrobe, along with cloaks and robs.

"**Harry, how was your day?" **Elfrida asked from her spot on Harry's bed as she uncurled herself.

"**It was great Elfrida, it was everything and more!"** Harry all but shouted in excitement and joy.** "I got so many books and other things and I made three friends! Fred and George Weasley, they are identical twins, they come from a big family; or it seemed, but are poor. I don't think I like their little brother Ron though and their mother seems really controlling and plays favourites with her children or it would seem. I also met an older girl named ****Nymphadora Tonks, I call her Norma though because she doesn't like her name. She's really nice and a**** metamorphmagus,**** which means she can change her appearance however she likes. I spent quite a bit too, I started out with 160 galleons,**** 5 sickles and 2 knuts and now I only have ****105 galleons, 10 sickles and 17 knuts.****"** Harry went on about is day as Elfrida listened and ask questions.

* * *

- I made up the new Nimbus 1900 to fill in the space

- I made Talia Gianni up when I couldn't find any particular shop keeper known to run the second-hand robe shop. I decided that it would be a woman because the Wizardry world is still backwards in many ways and while woman can have jobs, I image some things like clothes shops to be considered something that only woman do. I got the name from the fact that Thomas Gianni was at the bottom of the second-hand shop trading card. And Talia comes from the same culture as Thomas according to a babies name site I used.

- She doesn't think Harry is the Harry Potter because there are now several children that have been named after Harry, because of his hero status and she didn't see the scar hidden under his fringe.

- the Black and green robe, think of Snape's robes from the TWT; when they are in study hall, slightly.

- The reason I made the total so cheap is because in the chamber of secrets you find out the Weasley family only have 1 gallon and a few sickles to their name but yet they are able to afford Hogwarts and not starve to death? I still can't figure that out; less they are stealing from say Harry? Although I do imagine they have a mini farm on their land or something to eat so much. But based on that I tried to make the prices seem reasonable and while I imagine the Weasleys' have more than a gallon to their name I don't think it will be much more. I imagine to make up for the cheaper price though that if you are buying things new they would cost more than a galleon or 2.

- I am aware that in the ancient star constellations there was is also Noctua and Nubecula Major and Nubecula Minor but for the sake of it, I'll just say that Harry has only read about the Morden day ones as of yet because I have no idea how good Noctua or Nubecula sounds as a name and I can't seem to imagine it either, where as Norma has been used as a name in the past.

So now Harry has entered the wizardry world for the first time. I went on for a bit about prices, only because I wanted it to be made clear that the wizardry world really isn't cheap. Which again brings me to question how in the world the Weasleys' survived as much as they did….? I can't help but think that they should have looked so much poorer and maybe even a little under weight?

Anyways, I could have gone on but not only did I want to put this up but I was really getting bored of this chapter. Not to mention I wasn't even going to add the Twins or Tonks until latter but I didn't know when and this just happened. I do hope I got most of the mistakes if there are any, because I do admit that I haven't checked this chapter have as much as I normally seem to.


	6. Chapter Five

So here is another chapter, I have only really got it done this quick because I used the heritage test from 'Out of the Night' and that made up quite a bit of it. Not something I plan to do often if at all. I have not spell checked this or anything else and will surly do so future but to end my own impatience, I'll post it now and check it over another time. Do hope it not too bad, its 6am, my sleep pattern really sucks right now and I'm meant too try and get up in about another 2 hours. Yay_ me._

_Edited:_ Wow, read through and found so many mistakes. Can't say I found all of them but I hope I found most of them.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

By the next day Harry had already read a small bit of one of the wizardry law but they were clearly meant for someone of a much older deposition. Still one was able to see that he had read almost one quarter of the book which now lay on the corner of his bedside table, disregarded by a tired little boy who lay curled up under his covers asleep, his pet snake, Elfrida by his side.

The early raise of sunlight slowly filtered though the curtain-less windows, making young Harry's eyelids twitch and roll over in his sleep in order to avoid the light and sleep more. Suddenly there was a pecking sound at the window and Harry's eyes flickered open as he bemoaned at having been woken up, when he had stayed up later than usual reading the night before.

"**Make it shut up…"** Elfrida groaned, still half-asleep, as she used her tail to cover her eyes and keep the light out.

He slowly sat up as the pecking at the window continued and was greeted to the sight of an owl pecking at his bedside window. He groaned, 'Of cause the Daily Prophet' he thought to himself as he opened his window and thanked the owl for the paper.

* * *

One week of the school holiday past with Harry spending most of his time in his room reading, he would have liked to have read out under a tree but the title would have drawn too much attention, not to mention either the staff or children would ask where he got them and Mrs Ranch would drag him to the church again. Speaking of Mrs Ranch. Harry had already used the biting tea cup on her once already. He did it at night when she was a little drunk of cause but, but still it was funny to watch. She ended up screaming and waking at least half if not all the children and staff, a few were even stupid enough to get out of bed and find out what was wrong. Harry used the time to switch the tea cups and sneak back to his room where he and Elfrida laughed themselves silly. Mrs Ranch moaned about a sore nose for the next two days and some of the stuff where still looking at her funny.

It was also during this week though that Harry had found out that he was a household name and famous for something he didn't even remember, well not really. It did explain the odd nightmares about a green light and chilling laughter though, not to mention it likely also had something to do with the recurring dreams about a flying motorbike. It also explained the Harry Potter book series; although that truly pissed him off, because as he understood it, these people were most likely using his name for money without his permission. Not that he knew how to fix it right now. Worst of all was how they seemed to think he was living his life right now, most seemed to think he was living in a castle and being treated like a prince. Truly it pissed him off and made him really want to change his name, because there was no way he wanted to be Harry Potter. He was also thankful now that he hadn't been discovered while he was there last week.

This was also why yesterday he had spent some of the day in an upper-class part of town and had gather another 400 pounds and was now on a bus 88 back to the Leaky Cauldron. In his backpack were his blue robes and summer cloak; to put on once in the pub and his money pouch, with 105 galleons, 10 sickles and 17 knuts and the roll muggle of money.

The bus soon arrived and he made his way quickly to the pub; which being close to lunch time was a lot more crowed then last week when he came. He quickly made his way to a bathroom on the second floor of the pub to change, before he made his way back down just as quickly and went through to Diagon Alley.

With his head down this time and his hood up, he made his way as quickly as possible, without drawing attention to himself, to Gringotts. Nodding in respect to the two goblins that guard the doors, he quickly made his way up the steps and though the doors.

Much like the leaky Cauldron, Gringotts proved to be much fuller then last time he was there. So with nothing else to do, he waited in line until it was his turn. Soon enough he was standing before free Goblin.

"Yes?" The goblin grunted as he leaned over his bench to peer down at Harry.

"Please Sir, I wish to exchange this," he held up the roll of 400 muggle pounds for the goblin to take, "to wizardry money, but I also wish to see someone about personal business," Not wishing to say why, Harry took a guess and moving his hood back slightly, he moved his bang ever so slightly to show his lightning-bolt scar he was apparently so renowned for. The goblins eyebrow raised slightly in question, as an almost predatory smirk crept across its face. He reach down and took the money, counting it quickly it then, exchange the money for 80 galleons, 2 sickles, 2 knuts, which the goblin quickly put into Harry's coin pouch that Harry had passed up, giving Harry a total of 185 galleons, 12 sickles and 19knuts.

Money exchanged, the goblin quickly called another goblin over, as they talked in quick, hush tones, every now and then glancing at Harry. Finely the goblin that had served him spoke.

"Griphook will lead you to a secure office Young Sir." The goblin said with a wide grin, showing all it sharp teeth and causing several people behind Harry to take a step or two back.

Harry simply nodded, "Thank you Sir," he then preceded to follow the goblin named Griphook behind the counters and though a door that was slightly hidden in the shadows and down a set of winding and twisting hallways, until Harry was certain he would get lost long ago on his own, and finally Griphook stopped at a door with no particular feature about it to tell it apart from all the others they had pasted and knocked twice on the door before a voice boomed from the other side telling them to enter.

The room they entered into was not practically fancy; the walls seemed to be made of a dark carved out stone, while the floor was white marble like the entrance and the rest of the halls they had walked down. There was however, a large two handed axe on the left wall and a long sword and shield on the right, within easy reach to be taken down and used. There was filing-cabinets along the back wall, with the exception of a door in the far left corner and in front of Harry was a large dark wooden desk and some comfortable leather chairs in front of it and one behind, which had a much older and war-weary looking Goblin sitting in it.

"You wished to see someone about person business child and claim by your scar that you are 'the Harry Potter'. What proofs have you? You are not the first and nor will you be the last to try and make that claim." The goblin spoke with a bored tone, as the door shut behind Harry who still stood in the middle of the room.

Harry thought for a second before he answered, "I have no proof Sir Goblin. I came across a letter by chance over one year ago. I have since then spent a year studying any subject in the muggle world that looked like it may have traces from the magical world. One week ago, I finally came to see the Wizardry world for the first time with my own eyes. While in Diagon Alley, I acquired several books on History and Laws to learn more about the world and it was while reading the history books that I discovered what my name apparently means to this world, or at least to the witches and wizards in it. If you have a way to identify me for who I say I am, I would be more than happy to comply though to prove my claim to you." Harry explained himself as he stared up at the goblin.

The goblin nodded and grunted in some sort of agreement, "Have a seat then Mr Potter, assuming you are who you say you are," The goblin spoke as it pulled a sheet of parchment and an intricate, thin silver blade out of a draw in one of the filing-cabinets behind it and placed the item on the desk in front of Harry, who was now seated in one of the two free chairs.

"If you still wish to prove who you say you are, take this blade and make a cut on your hand and allow the blood to spill onto this parchment, it will tell us both who you are and if you hold any accounts here at Gringotts," The goblin explained with a glint I its eyes.

So with nothing to lose, Harry picked up the blade and made a small cut across his left pointer finger and watch as the blood fell out onto the paper. After the seventh drop, the cut seemed to knit itself back together as if the wound was never there. While the blood on the parchment sank into the paper and vanished, before black ink appeared and began to move across the page forming words.

**BLOOD TEST OF:**

**HARRY JAMES POTTER**

Born: 31 of July, 1980 at the hour of midnight

**Father:** James Charlus Potter

Born: 27 of March 1960 at 11 in the morning

Death: 31 of October 1981, 10 o'clock at night

**Mother:** Lilly Rose Potter nee Evans

Born: 30 of January 1960 at quarter past 3 in the morning

Death: 31 of October 1981, 10 minutes past 10 at night

**Godfather:** Sirius Black

Born: 23 of September, 1959 at 10 minutes past 8 in the morning

**Godmother:** Alice Longbottom nee Travers

Born: 18 of April, 1960 at 16 minutes to 3 in the afternoon

**Heir to:**

The Potter Family by blood

The Black Family, chosen by the current Lord Sirius Black with the stipulation that should Lord Black have a child that the child becomes the heir.

To say the goblin was shocked would be an understatement, although he quickly covered it up. Mean while Harry was staring at the part where it mentioned that he had godparents, godparents that he had never met. At first this realisation made him mad, angry that they had abandoned him and weren't there when he need them but that soon vanished when he released that in all likely hood the only reason that he likely wasn't with them is because he couldn't be. But then that made him wonder why.

Finally the goblin before him cleared his throat, "Well then Mr Potter I must apologies for my behavior but you must understand that over the last six years we have had many parents send their children in claiming to be you in hopes of getting the Potter fortune. Please, allow me to introduce myself, I am Bloodtooth. How may I help you today Mr Potter?" Bloodtooth asked.

"Before I start, do you know why I was never given to my godparent to be raised?" Harry asked with calm curiosity.

"You never ended up with either of them because on the night of your parents' deaths, your godfather Sirius Black was put in Azkaban prison without a trial for betraying your family to the Dark Lord Voldemort. Unfortunately, that very same night your godmother Alice Longbottom and her husband Frank Longbottom were torture into insanity by a group of Death Eaters." Harry couldn't help but feel disappointed at hearing this but tried not to let it get to him, "As to where you ended up, well no-body except for Albus Dumbledore knows," This made Harry perk up, after all, Tom had warned him in the letter about Dumbledore, "Not even your half-yearly bank statements from Gringotts have ever reached you." Bloodtooth explained.

"I have bank statements, no wait don't answer that. I'll come back to that later," Harry hurried to say as Bloodtooth was about to speak, "Even before I learned about the fact that I am not a muggle-born from the history book, but a half-blood I had intended to come to Gringotts at some point and ask to have a inheritance test, so that I might see where my family comes from on both my mother and father's side. So might I ask how I go about doing that? I know that I am a Potter now but I would still like to see my family tree and where I come from." Harry asked in curiosity. "I also want to know about changing my name, it would be better if I could be someone completely different from Harry Potter I think."

"While I admit we haven't been requested to do one in many years, that can be arranged if you are interested, it will cost 100 galleons though," Bloodtooth explained.

"How is the test done?" Harry asked, not caring about the price because he wanted to know.

"Utilising samples of a wizard's blood, we are able to determine their heritage up to sixteen generations back. We then maintain records of these heritages for future use. Pureblood families trust our records more than those that are available at the Ministry. They occasionally come to us before finalizing marriage contracts."

"Okay, would I have to wait to do it, or could I have one done now?"

"It can be arranged now if you are sure" Bloodtooth asked as he began to write a latter which then banished.

"I would like that, thank you," Bloodtooth nodded his head.

"This way then Mr Potter," Bloodtooth led Harry though the halls until they came to another room which they entered after a quick knock.

The room they entered was bear except for some comfortable chairs and a table. They were met by two goblins in pale blue lab coats.

"Mr Potter this is Knacklebrat and Cursentog, they will be doing the inheritance test today," With that Bloodtooth sat down in one of the available chairs to wait.

"Mr Potter, to prepare for the procedure we require that you take off your cloak, robes, and shirt," The one labelled as Knacklebrat said.

So Harry, while still a little unsure; proceeded to take of his clothes until he was standing in nothing but his shoes and pants.

"If I may ask, what exactly are you going to do with those mettle instruments?" Harry asked placatingly. "Just know the basics would be fine."

"Heritage testing is based on blood and magic. We will be cutting you to draw blood at several key points in the spinal and abdominal regions to ensure the most accurate reading." Cursentog explained.

"Then what?" Harry felt the need to ask.

"Then we will conduct the test on the blood samples using a variety of highly guarded spells and potions. At the conclusion of the test, if any significant heritages are discovered, we will show you how to go about claiming them, as well as be able to show you a copy of your family trees, as you requested of Bloodtooth." Knacklebrat explained while fiddling with something.

"Claiming them? Heritages? I thought that this was just to see the family tree?" Harry asked now confused.

"You didn't explain Bloodtooth?" Cursentog cursed.

"I apologise, it must have slipped my mind." Bloodtooth explained. "What I forgot to mention Mr Potter was that a heritage testing can be used to see if you have any other family you could claim. It's not about money or anything of that nature, Mr. Potter. Some wizarding family lines must be…properly acknowledged…if an heir wishes to gain the benefits of blood and magic offered by association with that family. Now please take a seat so we may begin."

After it was over, Harry reflected that it wasn't so bad. It was weird to be standing in the middle of a room half naked, while goblins carefully cut lines into his flesh and caught the blood in little silver bowls, but it could have been worse. It hurt a little, but they healed each cut carefully after they had finished and forced Harry to sit back down and drink a cup of pumpkin juice while he waited for the results.

"We've got one," said Cursentog after nearly an hour of studying the blood.

"Really?" asked Knacklebrat, his eyes widening. "Which family?"

"Peverell."

"Ah," said Knacklebrat, "That's not going to do him much good. Is there anything else?"

"No, just the expected. It's a bit purer than I anticipated. His mother must have had some magic in the bloodline but we are still waiting for the trees to finish."

Harry had been nearly dozing in the comfortable wingback chair the goblins had provided, but now he was wide awake. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Cursentog began packing up his equipment as Knacklebrat turned to Harry. "It means that if you wanted to do so you could claim membership into the Peverell family. However, I doubt that you would want to."

"I've never heard of them," said Harry.

"They were fairly well-to-do until the last heir died in the mid-18th century. There are some quite charming fairytales associated with them in a book called 'The Tales of Beedle and the Bard'. Gringotts does not maintain a Peverell vault, but we do have a standard heritage acceptance potion and a signet ring in storage for any claimants."

"So, I'm related to them…the Peverells? What would happen if I took the potion?"

Knacklebrat stroked his pointy chin as he considered the question. "Heritages are tricky things," he said. "No wizard reacts in an entirely predictable way to accepting one. Normally, it's nothing very special…an increase in some minor talents, maybe even a sudden interest in a field of study that was previously uninteresting. The Peverells, for example, were noted for their exceptional night vision. That's the sort of attribute that would normally bleed over. It's quite a strong relation too," he said as he looked over the parchment Cursentog had handed him, "so you would likely get a little more out of it than most. But, it's a moot point for you, Mr. Potter."

"Why?"

"Because, Mr Potter, the Peverell family was traditionally a Dark family. The heritage would be a Dark heritage."

Harry's mind seemed to go into overdrive. Dark. His heritage, if he accepted it, would be Dark. What did that mean? People weren't born Dark wizards were they? Wasn't it a matter of choice? Obviously, the goblins expected him to refuse the inheritance because of it, so there must be more to it than that.

"I'm sorry," said Harry. "I don't understand. What do you mean the heritage is Dark? What would happen to me if I accepted it?"

Knacklebrat's look was calculating. "I don't know exactly," he admitted after several seconds of contemplation. "Most non-Dark wizards wouldn't accept a Dark heritage. The combination might be rather volatile."

"Dark wizards aren't like other wizards, Mr Potter," Cursentog said as he looked up from the bowls he was cleaning. "I don't mean that horseshit that the Ministry spouts off about good and evil and all that rot. I mean at the most basic level. They've got a fundamentally different understanding about how wizards ought to interact with magic. Not to mention that their magic is more suited to the heaver magic, which most call Dark, it is like the different between a man with strong muscles and a developing boy, the man will be able to do more powerful things."

Knacklebrat nodded in agreement. "Dark wizardry is steeped in traditions that have been left behind by most wizards in these times. Families pass down these customs. They train their children to use their magic in a certain way, until eventually children born into those families are much more inclined to perceive magic in a uniquely Dark manner."

This was fascinating. Harry had never learned any of this before, and he had a feeling that the goblins were being more honest about the differences between the two types of wizards than anyone else ever would be. "So people are…born Dark?" he asked.

The goblins seemed to confer silently with one another for awhile. "To an extent," said Knacklebrat eventually. "It would be very difficult for someone from a truly Dark family to turn away from that heritage, very unnatural for them. But one doesn't _have_ to be born into one of the families in order to be Dark. A person can choose to follow the traditions and the way of magic on their own. It's just…uncommon."

Cursentog grunted. "More like unheard of," he said.

"So I could accept the heritage and still choose for myself couldn't I? I mean from what I've read and what you're saying, it sounds like the definition of Dark is just your type of magic, whereas most wizards today, sound as if they see Dark as meaning evil." Harry asked.

"True but why would you want to risk a magical imbalance like that, Mr Potter?" asked Knacklebrat. "The Potter heritage is extremely anti-Dark. The two magics, the two bloods…they would never mesh properly."

"It might work," said Cursentog, a fierce gleam in his eyes.

"It would be far too dangerous for us to recommend…"

"Come now, Knacklebrat, you know you're just as curious as I am. Ideally, you would develop a sort of double persona, Mr Potter. You might be able to shift between the two heritages at will, retaining your same mind and soul but developing an understanding for both types of magic."

"The duality would never last," Knacklebrat argued. "He would eventually develop a strong leaning toward one type of magic. One can't straddle that particular fence for very long."

"Yes, of course," said the other. "But, he might be able to maintain the weaker heritage as a kind of veneer to cover the stronger one if he needed to. Just think of the possibilities!"

Harry's head was spinning as he watched the two of them argue. A "double persona" they said. He was apparently no Dark wizard, but he was curious. He would have the opportunity to learn more about the apparent division between Dark and Light. And…some rebellious part of Harry wanted to do this thing that he knew would horrify everyone in the wizardry world. He knew it was dangerous, but he wanted it anyway. Taking the heritage wouldn't _make_ him Dark or should he say evil, after all.

Even disregarding the issue of Dark and Light, the Peverell heritage was something that was already a part of him, just waiting to be awoken. It was his, and the thought of leaving something about himself locked deep within him disturbed him. He looked up to the two goblins who were now babbling in Gobbledegook. Well, he thought, "I want to do it," he said firmly.

The goblins stopped arguing and all three turned to look at him. "I want to claim the heritage. It will make me someone else right and that is what I want. From what I've read the wizardry world already has a perceived idea about who 'Harry Potter' is and I'm not him, not as they think 'he' is."

"If you're sure Mr Potter, we will first need to have you checked for anything that could interfere with the procedure but for now, it would seem that the two Potter and Evens family trees have finished. So why don't you look at those while we organise things." Bloodtooth finally spoke, while the other two goblins got over their mild shock.

The trees as it turned out went back sixteen generations each like Bloodtooth had said they would, but the biggest shock was when he saw the name 'Wilkes' on his mother's side. You see fore ever name that was a wizard it would come up black and every name that was not a wizard but a squib came up grey, and muggles seemed to come up red, so as it would seem, Harry's mother had come from a long line of squibs from a family called the Wilkes.

This changed everything about how Harry was gradually seeing the wizardry world. They were so wrong about things and they didn't even know it or perhaps didn't want to accept it. Harry decided then that you are only a muggle-born if you have a muggle parent, but Harry's mother didn't just come from one line of squibs but two, not that he could see any further back then his grandmother on her side but still. Sure there were some muggle mixed in on his grandfather side, but shockingly, not that many from when the line became squibs only five generations back. So in Harry's eyes that made him a pureblood, not a half-blood; sure they were squibs but they still came from being wizards.

As it were, in the time it took Harry to think about it all, the goblins had all that they needed and so they ran more tests, which came up with some shocking results and not for any reason that any in the room expected.

"A horcrux! I human horcrux!" Knacklebrat all but bellowed in horror. "This is unheard of!"

"We must get it out," Cursentog said after he finished curing in Gobbledegook.

"Excuse me, but what is a horcrux and what does it have to do with me?" Harry asked.

Bloodtooth who had been pacing in horror while cursing under his breath stopped to face Harry. "A horcrux is created when someone kills something else, in the process they split their soul and then pull that broken part off and put it into something else." He cursed under his breath again, "In ancient times, long before the dark wizard know as Herpo the Foul." He spat the name out, "The same method that is now called extremely dark and evil was used as a medical healing process for those who had developed a split personality or more. They would scarifies an animal of some sort to help split the soul, then temporarily store it into an item that would become the horcrux, before they would either destroy it, if the split personality was in any way bad or go about the process of making the other personality a body so that they could be their own person. After which the remaining soul pieces would have to be healed in order to be whole again. They would do this by starting with feeling remorse for the kill. As they are each their own person now, the two souls would remain separate and not merge back together. It was only after Herpo the Foul that it became considered dark, or even that you had to kill another human to do so." Bloodtooth explained the long winded history of horcruxs.

"And you can take to guess as to who piece of soul is in that scar on your forehead." Cursentog added seething.

Harry's eyes widened, "Lord Voldemort?" he asked softly, hoping against hope.

"Got it in one, but don't worry Mr Potter we can get it out without hurting you," Knacklebrat said, soothing Harry's fears.

* * *

In the short order, they led Harry to middle of a circular design of marble runes inlaid into the floor of Ritual Room 1, deep in the bowels of Gringotts. Here, they first had Harry lay down on his back, as they chanted and weaved spells and very slowly and slightly painfully, like a game of tug-of-wars, extracted the piece of soul from Harry's forehead which then completely healed over like it was never there. They stored the piece of soul in an orb and promised to have it destroyed later.

After a short break they then had Harry was kneel in the middle of the room. The acceptance potion, which looked like water to Harry, was in a crystal goblet on the floor in front of him. A parchment with a written version of the Peverell family acknowledgment lay beside it. At the goblins' instruction, Harry drank the potion and recited the acknowledgment:

**I, Harry James Potter, claim the heritage of the Peverell family. I accept the heritage in blood, in memory, and in magic. I will take the name Peverell as one of my own, never to bring it shame. I am of the Peverell line, and this is my right.**

Harry felt warm all over, as though he had suddenly been immersed in a hot bath. Something unidentifiable was sweeping through him, altering him in small ways; and although he thought this should frighten him, he felt good. Alert and peaceful at the same time. After a couple of minutes, the bathtub sensation faded, and Harry stood up.

"Well," said Cursentog in satisfaction. "It didn't kill him."

They gave him a small box which they said held the Peverell family signet ring and a stack of papers which were the certified copies of his blood records. "Don't put the ring on until tomorrow night," advised Knacklebrat. "It would be bad form. It usually takes twenty-four hours for the potion to do everything it's going to do, so you won't be a full Peverell until then. Should any other claimants to the line show up…"

"That's not likely," Cursentog interrupted.

"But if they do," said Knacklebrat, "You'll be expected to donate your blood for the creation of another heritage acceptance potion. You will remain the main Peverell heir with whatever that might entail, but other heirs will still be able to share in the family name and magics if they choose."

"Alright," said Harry. He began to gather his things together. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Not really. As I said, the heritage will be in full force by this time tomorrow night, but it's already active now. If you _have _achieved a split heritage, you should be able to make some changes in your appearance or casting just by shifting your mental perception of yourself."

"What?"

"If you feel more like you're a Potter, then that heritage will come to the forefront. If you feel more like a Peverell, then that one will. The differences between the two will be slight. It's really quite simple."

Cursentog cleared his throat. "Who should I list you as for record keeping purposes?" Seeing Harry's blank look, he clarified, "Your name. Traditionally, you would call yourself Harry James Peverell-Potter, but given the unprecedented nature of your situation and the fact that you yourself stated you do not wish to be 'Harry Potter', choosing a separate name for the Peverell family would be advisable. What would you like to call yourself?"

"Greek or Roman names and their derivatives would be best, Mr Potter," added Knacklebrat. "Those are the most common in pureblood circles."

"Ummm…" Harry muttered. 'A new name?' he thought to himself. 'I would like to stick with the same initials but what do I want?' he asked himself, "Hephaestus," he said at last, "After the Greek god of fire metalworking, stone masonry, and art of sculpture, because I want to change this world in the future and Judum from the Latin word judicium meaning trial, legal, investigation, judgement, or decision," He nodded to himself, "I'll be Hephaestus Judum Peverell." He finally finished, feeling quite proud of himself.

"Thank you for your time Cursentog, Knacklebrat. We have much to do now if you want a separate identify Mr Peverell," Bloodtooth said taking command. Harry or Hephaestus nodded as he finally put his shirt and robes back on but left his cloak I his bag.

* * *

In Dumbledore's office in Hogwarts, the Book of Names lay off to the side as always, but what no one was there to see or would notice for a few years yet was that that the name Harry Potter had vanished and in its place was the name Hephaestus Peverell. Not that they would have seen yet anyways, as the pages are still open to the names of children due to come this coming September.

* * *

Back in his office Bloodtooth helped Harry to create a separate identity. Hephaestus Judum Peverell was born on the 1 of August, 1980 to Dionysus and Agapanthus Peverell at 1 in the morning at St Mungo's Hospital. Copies of the birth certificate were made and sent out and to the Hospital, and Ministry, as well as a copy to be kept at Gringotts and finally one for Harry to keep.

Unfortunately both of Hephaestus's parents died almost one year later while being caught in the cross-fire of a battle at Diagon Alley with Death Eaters and so of cause copies of their death certificates had to be created, not to mention their birth certifies. They were however both home school as children, so cause they were not that very well known.

With falsified papers and documents out of the way, Bloodtooth finally brought out a stack of papers.

"These are every Potter bank statement since your parents were killed and even some before," Bloodtooth began to explain as Harry looked though the papers. "Gringotts deals with every aspect of Wizarding wealth. This includes but is not limited to: savings accounts, trust funds, Old Family vaults, stock options, inheritance verification, special items protection, currency exchange, and blood records."

The young wizard pondered this list he read more and more of the back statements and business deals.

"In the past the Potters accounts like many of the Pure-bloods was worth hundreds of galleons. Charles Potter, your grandfather was a very good businessman and knew how to make profit. However when your father James became Lord of the family during the war, he stopped taking care of any business or stocks the Potters owned and began to use large sums of the money for an organisation called 'the Order of the Phoenix' which was run by Albus Dumbledore to counter the Death Eaters. He later gave Dumbledore direct access to the family vault, but only to use the money. However after your parents died, the amount of money being taken didn't stop, in fact it increased astronomically. With no one to argue it because you parents were dead and your godparents otherwise unable to, Albus Dumbledore listed himself as you unofficial magical guardian and has since been taking money yearly for both himself and to give some to a family called the Weasleys. Currently the Potter fortune is worth approximately 25,000 galleons," said Bloodtooth. Seeing Harry open his mouth to either ask a question or something else, he added, "As he is not Harry Potter's legal magical guardian and Hephaestus Peverell does not have a magical guardian but is a ward of the ministry, we can stop him from taking any more if you give me the word to." Bloodtooth said with a very toothy grin.

"Do it! They have no right to take my money!" Harry felt like for once in his life he was truly ready to throw a tantrum like the child he is, "Can we get the money back?" he asked, seething.

"Unfortunately because of your fathers last order before he died to give Dumbledore access to the accounts and then him making himself your magical guardian; so long as no one either stepped in or objected, no. We are not able to reclaim the stolen money," Bloodtooth growled. "We were however able to stop him from taking any heirlooms or other items that were left in the family vault after your father's death."

Harry was beyond fuming, he had been stolen from and there was nothing that could be done about it. He truly wanted to break something but knew it would do nothing good so he took a deep breath and slowly calmed himself down.

"Bloodtooth, does the Potter's have any sort of account manager?" Harry finally asked.

"No, again not since your father's death," Bloodtooth answered, sounding vaguely sour about it.

"Could I make you my account manager then? That is if you accept?" Harry asked as he thought about things.

Bloodtooths eyes widened for a fraction of a second, "I would be honoured to manage your accounts," he finally answered.

"Then the position is yours, I'm six almost seven years old. I freely admit I don't know the first thing about managing money and how to invest it wisely. Of the 25,000 galleons, I would like for you, Bloodtooth, to take 5,000 and invest it in anything that you think will gain large profits," Harry ordered, "I trust you make the best choices."

Bloodtooth grinned as he wrote something down, "It will be done," was his simple answer still writing things down.

"I also want a new account opened under Peverell and have everything I own transferred to the new vault. Just how many vaults do I have anyways?" Harry suddenly asked.

"You have the main Potter Vault and a trust-fund that was created for you when you were born but as the last Potter you are able to manage them now; you cannot however enter the main vault until you are considered an adult."

"Then keep the trust fund but put it under my new name and in a new vault as well so that only I will have the keys." Harry decided.

Papers were signed and money was exchanged and in the end Harry let the bank with two new banks, a new identity, a new account manager and ally and two keys he put in with his money so as not to lose them. The day felt far longer than it had really been so far. Harry also learned that the Potter family manor had been burned down during the war and almost everything in it lost and that the only other property the Potters had owned was a cottage in Godrics Hollow which was in shambles. And any businesses the Potters had owned either went bust under his father's care or were sold. It was easy to say there for that he was fuming. He fell like he had been wronged on so many levels. He didn't even bother to get something to eat, just caught the next bus 'home'.

* * *

- Most of the part to do with the heritage test and the ritual comes directly from 'Out Of the Night'. I did say that this story is based off of it, so yes there might be bits here and there, though I hope, few and far between that I mostly copy as it is just easier than trying to re-write it.

- If you have read 'Out of the night' you will know that the name Hephaestus was used for Harry in it but that is not why I chose the name. I vaguely remember when I first started this story that I spent quite a bit of time looking up different names and means but in the end, I always came back to Hephaestus both because it started with H and because of the gods meaning. So it has nothing to do with 'Out of the Night', it just happened to be the same name.

- Dionysus is the Greek god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy which to some degree makes me thing of James and his love of pranks and fun and stuff. Agapanthus means Lily-of-the-Nile, enough said.

Yay, Harry now has a new identity coming in to play. I think I really want to get to other part of this story already…..


End file.
